THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  ILLINOIS 


no.  l~7-SQ> 


NON  CIRCULATING 

CHECK  FOR  UNBOUND 
CIRCULATING  COPY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station, 

CHAMPAIGN,  MARCH,  1894. 


BULLETIN  NO.  31. 


CORN  AND  OATS  EXPERIMENTS,  1893, 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN. 

This  bulletin  gives  the  results  of  some  experiments  with  field  corn 
in  1893,  together  with  the  summary  of  the  results  obtained  in  the  same 
experiments  in  1888,  1889,  1890,  1891,  and  1892. 

The  following  are  reported: 

No.     i.     Test  of  varieties.  No.    3.     Time  of  planting. 

No.    4.     Depth  of  planting.  No.    5.     Thickness  of  planting. 

No.    6.     Planting  in  hills  or  drills.  No.    8.     Frequency  of  cultivation. 
No.    9.     Depth  of  cultivation.  No.  10.     Effect  of  root-pruning. 

No.  23.     Continuous  cropping  with  corn  contrasted  with  rotation  of 

crops. 

No.  71.     Corn  fodder,  effect  of  ripeness. 
No.  89.     Cross  fertilization. 
No.  90.     Growth  of  the  corn  plant;  increase  of  its  dry  matter. 

SUMMARY. 

The  experiments  were  tried  on  the  dark  colored,  fertile,  prairie  soil 
common  to  central  Illinois.  The  surface  soil  is  about  18  inches  deep, 
underlaid  with  yellow  clay.  The  land  on  which  the  tests  of  varieties 
were  conducted  had  been  in  corn  in  1892.  It  was  plowed  in  the  spring, 
no  fertilizers  being  applied.  The  land  used  for  most  of  the  other  experi- 
ments had  been  in  clover  in  1892,  and  was  plowed  in  the  spring  after  a 
liberal  application  of  stable  manure.  The  corn  was  planted  by  hand  and 
covered  with  the  hoe,  the  rows  being  3  ft.  8  in.  apart,  and  the  hills, 
generally,  the  same  distance  apart  in  the  rows. 

333 


334  BULLETIN  NO.  31.  [March, 

The  season  was  characterized  by  extreme  drought  during  the  summer 
months.  The  rainfall  for  the  five  months  from  May  to  Sept.,  inclusive, 
was  10.65  m<>  but  that  from  June  nth  to  Sept.  i  ith  was  only  .94  of  an 
inch.  The  mean  temperature  for  the  five  months  and  for  each  month 
was  not  materially  different  from  the  average  for  the  past  five  years. 
The  yields  of  corn  and  of  stover  were  less  in  all  the  experiments,  as 
well  as  in  the  other  field  crops  on  the  University  farm,  than  in  any  year 
since  1887.  The  exceptional  character  of  the  season  reduces  the  value 
of  the  results  obtained  in  most  of  the  experiments.  This  is  believed  to 
be  especially  true  of  the  results  in  the  tests  of  varieties.  But  the  conclu- 
sions reached  from  a  comparison  of  the  results  of  experiments  tried  for  six 
successive  years  are  probably  the  more  valuable  because  they  include 
this  unusually  unfavorable  year. 

The  results  of  the  experiments  for  the  six  years,  from  1888  to 
1893,  well  illustrate  the  fact  that  the  soil  and  climate  of  central  Illinois 
is  admirably  adapted  to  the  production  of  Indian  corn.  Eleven  different 
varieties  have  been  cultivated  in  each  of  these  six  years  without  excep- 
tionally good  care  or  treatment  of  any  kind,  and  without  the  application 
of  other  than  stable  manure.  The  average  yield  of  air-dry  corn  of  these 
eleven  varieties  has  been  almost  63  bu.  per  acre. 

The  division  of  varieties  into  early,  medium,  and  late  maturing  is 
necessarily  somewhat  arbitrarily  made.  The  average  yield  of  all  early 
varieties  has  been  54,  of  medium,  65,  and  of  late  maturing,  59  bu.  per 
acre.  The  largest  average  yield  of  any  one  variety  for  the  six  years 
has  been  slightly  under  70  bu.  per  acre. 

The  average  yield  of  air-dry  stover  for  five  years,  from  the  medium 
maturing  variety,  Burr's  white,  when  planted  in  rows  3  ft.  8  in.  apart,  is 
4.5,  3.5,  3,  and  2.8  tons  per  acre,  when  planted  at  the  rate  of  one  kernel 
every  3,  6,  9,  12,  and  15  in.,  respectively.  As  corn  is  ordinarily  planted, 
3  tons  per  acre  is  a  good  yield  of  stover. 

The  tests  at  the  Station  indicate  the  advisability  of  the  selection  of 
medium  rather  than  either  early  or  late  maturing  varieties;  those  with 
ears  above  the  average,  but  not  remarkably  large  in  size,  and  those 
which  combine  as  many  good  qualities  as  possible.  But  some  of  the 
most  profitable  varieties  have  been  faulty  in  some  respects.  The  largest 
yields  of  shelled  corn  have  not  been  secured  from  varieties  with  the 
smallest  cobs,  or  with  deepest  kernels,  or,  in  all  cases,  with  symmet- 
rical ears.  As  a  rule,  it  is  not  advisable  to  select  for  the  main  crop 
a  variety  which  has  been  produced  far  north  or  south  of  the  latitude  in 
which  it  is  to  be  planted.  A  small  acreage  of  some  early  maturing 
variety  may  be  profitably  planted  for  use  in  the  early  autumn.  Such 
varieties  are  also  valuable  if  corn  must  be  planted  exceptionally  late. 

No  one  variety  has  been  shown  to  be  greatly  superior  to  all  others. 
There  are  many  varieties  much  resembling  each  other.  It  has  not  been 
shown  that  the  yield  depends  upon  either  the  color  of  the  kernel,  or  on 
the  exact  shape  of  either  the  ear,  or  the  kernel.  Large  numbers  of 


1894-]  FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893.  335 

excellent  varieties  have  been  obtained  from  different  sources,  often  when 
they  have  had  little  more  than  a  neighborhood  reputation.  The  claims 
made  for  many  varieties  advertised  by  seedsmen  have  not  been  sustained. 
In  many  cases  there  seems  little  reason  for  Illinois  farmers  to  send  out 
of  their  own  county  for  seed  corn.  Corn  obtained  from  different 
sources  under  the  same  name  often  differs  materially.  Corn  obtained 
with  differing  names  is  often  much  alike. 

The  results  of  experiments  with  cross-bred  corn  suggest  the  import- 
ance of  thorough  trials  of  the  practice  of  crossing  desirable  varieties. 
Uniformity  of  type  is  sacrificed,  but  in  a  large  majority  of  the  trials 
made  at  the  Station  the  yields  from  cross-bred  seed  have  been  larger 
than  those  from  the  pure  bred  parent  seed. 

Contrary  to  the  opinion  and  practice  of  the  large  majority  of  Illi- 
nois farmers,  the  results  of  the  experiments  as  to  thickness  of  plant- 
ing, almost  without  exception,  indicate  that  thicker  planting  than  is  ordi- 
narily practiced  will  give  larger  yields  of  both  corn  and  stalks.  In  five 
years  out  of  six,  planting  at  the  rate  of  at  least  12,000  kernels  per  acre, 
which  is  equivalent  to  4  kernels  per  hill  in  the  rows  at  the  usual  distances 
for  planting  in  Illinois,  has  given  larger  yields  of  corn  than  thinner 
plantings.  In  the  exceptionally  dry  year,  1893,  somewhat  thinner  plant- 
ing gave  better  results.  The  thicker  planting  produces  smaller  ears,  and 
reduces  the  average  weight  of  the  stalks.  The  result  of  all  trials  at 
the  Station  clearly  indicates  that  in  average  seasons,  in  central  Illinois  at 
least,  a  lessened  .yield  may  be  expected  if  the  number  of  stalks  is  less 
than  3  a  hill. 

In  no  year  out  of  the  six  was  any  material  difference  shown  in  the 
yield  of  corn,  whether  planted  in  hills  or  drills,  where  an  equal  number 
of  kernels  was  planted,  and  the  ground  kept  equally  free  from  weeds. 

The  date  of  planting,  within  reasonable  limits,  has  not  materially 
affected  the  yield.  The  largest  average  yields  have  been  secured  by 
planting  from  May  loth  to  i5th,  with  no  material  variation  in  yield,  if 
the  planting  was  done  at  any  time  from  May  ist  to  25th.  If  the  ground 
was  in  equally  good  condition  at  the  time  of  planting,  less  cultivation 
has  usually  been  necessary  for  the  later  than  for  the  earlier  plantings. 

Uniformly  shallow  covering  has  been  found  somewhat  better  than 
deep  covering;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  corn  is  more  carefully, 
covered  by  the  use  of  the  hoe  than  it  is  where  machines  are  used. 

Shallow  cultivation  has  uniformly  given  better  results  than  has  deep. 
Purposed  root-pruning  has  in  all  cases  decreased  the  yield.  It  has  not 
been  proved  that  comparatively  deep  culture,  while  the  corn  is  small, 
would  be  injurious.  Unusually  frequent  cultivation  has  in  some  cases 
decreased  the  yield,  and  in  no  case  been  profitable.  No  one  implement 
has  been  shown  to  be  clearly  superior  to  all  others.  It  is  believed  the 
best  results  can  be  secured  with  the  smallest  expenditure  of  time  and 
labor  by  having  the  ground  in  good  condition  at  the  time  of  planting 
beginning  cultivation  before  grass  or  weeds  have  made  much  growth, 


336  BULLETIN  NO.  31.  [March, 

and  stirring  the  entire  surface  of  the  soil  as  nearly  as  practicable  to 
the  depth  of  not  more  than  2  or  3  in.,  often  enough  to  keep  the  surface 
well  pulverized  and  to  prevent  the  growth  of  weeds  and  grass.  Each 
year  yields  of  corn  not  much  below  the  average  have  been  secured  with- 
out any  cultivation  subsequent  to  planting,  except  scraping  the  surface 
with  a  sharp  hoe  to  prevent  the  growth  of  weeds.  On  soils  of  different 
texture  other  methods  of  cultivation  may  be  better. 

Repeated  observations  show  that  the  percentage  of  dry  matter  in 
the  corn  plant,  both  stalk  and  ear,  increases  up  to  the  time  of  maturing. 
It  has  not  been  shown  that  the  digestibility  is  decreased  as  maturity 
increases.  In  many  cases  the  palatability  of  both  stalk  and  ear  does 
decrease.  Leaving  the  stalks  uncut  until  they  reach  full  maturity  in- 
creases probability  of  loss  from  storms,  and  often  makes  it  necessary  to 
harvest  the  crop  in  less  favorable  weather.  It  seems  clearly  proved, 
however,  that  there  often  has  been  a  considerable  loss  in  the  total  food 
value  of  the  crop  by  cutting  it  at  too  early  a  stage,  whether  designed  for 
ensilage  or  for  dry  fodder.  The  percentage  of  water  in  the  young  corn 
plant  is  surprisingly  large,  while  the  quantity  of  dry  matter  and  the  food 
value  is  very  much  less  than  that  found  as  the  plant  approaches  full 
maturity. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  SEASON. 

The  year  1893  was  exceptionally  unfavorable  for  corn  in  Illinois, 
especially  in  the  central  eastern  portion.  The  rainfall  was  above  the 
average  in  April  and  May,  but  was  almost  unprecedentedly  light  for  a 
period  of  three  months  beginning  June  nth.  As  stated  before,  from 
this  date  to  September  nth,  the  total  rainfall  at  the  Station  was  only  .94 
of  an  inch.  The  temperature  during  all  the  growing  season  was  some- 
what below  the  average,  but  in  no  month  noticeably  different  from  it. 
The  unusual  drought  greatly  interfered  with  the  growth  of  the  corn  and 
reduced  the  yields  in  all  cases,  both  of  grain  and  of  stover.  The  later 
varieties  were  more  seriously  affected  than  those  ripening  earlier. 
Varieties  which  in  former  years  gave  remarkably  large  yields,  but  which 
usually  did  not  mature  sufficiently  early  to  be  counted  desirable  for 
central  Illinois,  in  1893  were  almost  total  failures  so  far  as  the  yield  of 
grain  was  concerned.  In  one  case  there  was  69  per  cent  of  the  stalks 
without  any  ears.  Most  of  the  varieties  ordinarily  classed  as  late  ripened 
at  such  a  date  as  to  be  classed  with  the  medium,  and  some  varieties, 
usually  classed  as  medium,  had  to  be  put  with  the  early  maturing 
varieties. 

In  view  of  these  unfavorable  conditions  much  less  importance  should 
be  attached  to  the  varying  yields  of  different  varieties  than  to  their  aver- 
age yields  for  the  series  of  years  during  which  they  have  been  tested  by 
the  Station. 

The  table  gives  the  mean  temperature  and  the  rainfall  in  inches 
from  May  to  September,  inclusive,  for  each  year  from  1887  to  1893. 


i894.] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893. 


337 


The  records  for  1887  an<^  J888  are  those  of  the  Illinois  Weather  Service 
for  central  Illinois.  For  the  remaining  years  the  records  are  those  of 
the  observations  made  at  the  Station. 

TEMPERATURE  AND  RAINFALL  DURING  THE  CORN  SEASON  OF  YEARS  NAMED. 

Mean  temperature,  F. 


Year   

May. 

June. 

July. 

August. 

Sept. 

Average. 

1887 

67.9° 
59-4° 
59-2° 
58.3° 
58.4° 
57-9° 
57-4° 

73-6° 
71-3° 
65-5° 
746° 
72° 
70.6° 
70-5° 

80.4° 
77° 
72.7° 
73° 
70° 
73-3° 
76-4° 

75.2° 
72.4° 
69.2° 
68.7° 
70.2° 

71.5° 
71.1° 

66.4° 
62.4° 
61.3° 
60.5° 
69.2° 
63.90 
66.5° 

72.7°  ' 
68.5° 
65.6° 

67° 
68° 
67.4° 
68.4° 

1888  

1889  

1800 

1801    .  •    . 

1892    . 

1803.  . 

Average    1889—93  • 

58.2° 

70.6° 

73-1° 

70.1° 

64.3° 

67-3° 

Rainfall,  inches. 

Aggregate 

1887 

3.84 
6.84 
5-52 
3.56 
.89 
7.86 
4-83 

1.62 

5-75 
6.81 
3-8 
2.08 
5.36 
1-55 

1.65 

5-34 
5.84 
2.83 
1.41 
2.5 
•59 

2.56 

3-14 
.6 

1-93 
2.86 

2-43 
.06 

3.68 
i-95 
2-74 
1.19 
.41 

•93 
3-62 

13-35 
23.02 

21.51 
13-31 
7.65 
19.08 
10.65 

1888  

1889  

1800 

1801 

1802 

1803 

Average,  1889-93  

4-53 

3.92 

2.63 

1-57 

1.78 

14.44 

Experiment  No.  i.      Corn,  Testing  Varieties. 

Tests  of  varieties  of  dent  corn  have  been  ma'de  for  seven  consecu- 
tive years,  reports  of  which  may  be  found  in  bulletins  No.  4,  8,  13,  20, 
and  25. 

The  land  used  in  1893  was  the  same  as  that  used  for  this  experi- 
ment the  preceding  year.  The  stalks  were  removed,  the  land  plowed 
about  five  inches  deep,  harrowed  twice,  and  marked  a  few  days  before 
planting.  The  corn  was  planted  by  hand,  six  kernels  a  hill,  in  checks  3 
ft.  8  in.  apart,  and  was  covered  about  two  inches  deep  with  a  hoe. 

The  planting  was  done  May  igth  to  23d.  The  plats,  119  in  num- 
ber, each  one-fortieth  of  an  acre,  2  rods  or  9  hills  square,  were  so  planted 
that  corn  grew  on  every  side.  June  9th  to  24th  the  corn  was  cultivated 
three  times  with  surface  cultivators,  the  first  time  with  the  "  Superior  " 
and  the  second  and  third  times  with  the  "Tower."  July  i8th  to  24th 
the  remaining  weeds  were  removed  with  a  hoe.  Soon  after  the  first 
cultivation  the  corn  was  thinned  to  four  plants  a  hill.  Plats  31,  87, 
89,  90,  93,  and  100  failed  and  were  again  planted,  this  time  with  Mur- 
dock,  but  no  account  is  made  of  them  in  what  follows.  The  number  of 
barren  stalks  and  the  average  height  to  tips  of  tassels  and  butts  of  ears 


BULLETIN  NO.  31. 


[March. 


were  ascertained  for  each  plat.  Observations  were  made  on  the  time  of 
ripening.  October  yth  to  !3th  the  plats  were  husked  by  thirds  and  the 
weight  and  number  of  ears  ascertained  for  each  third.  The  middle  third 
was  at  once  shelled,  the  number  and  weight  of  both  good  ears  and  nub- 
bins, and  the  weight  of  both  shelled  corn  and  cobs,  being  ascertained.  A 
pint  jar  of  shelled  corn  from  each  plat  was  sent  to  the  laboratory  for  the 
determination  of  water.  Eleven  per  cent  is  taken  as  the  average  water 
content  of  air-dry  corn. 

DUPLICATE  PLATS. 

While  the  attempt  was  to  have  uniform  soil  and  like  treatment 
throughout,  the  differences  in  yield,  as  in  former  years,  of  plats  planted 
with  the  same  variety  were  considerable.  There  were  four  plats  each  of 
Learning  and  Murdock,  and  two  plats  each  of  fourteen  other  varieties, 
as  shown  in  the  table.  The  greatest  difference  in  yield  per  acre  between 
two  plats  of  the  same  variety  was  with  Murdock,  15  bu.;  Learning,  13.8 
bu.;  the  average  difference,  Murdock,  8.2  bu.;  Learning,  7.5  bu. ;  and 
the  least  difference,  Murdock,  4.2  bu.;  Learning,  i  bu. 

These  differences,  though  considerable,  are  somewhat  less  than  those 
found  between  different  varieties  of  even  the  same  class.  For  example, 
-the  greatest  difference  between  two  plats  of  the  49  planted  with  early 
maturing  varieties  was  26.9  bu.  an  acre,  and  of  the  49  medium  matur- 
ing, 29.4  bu. 

YIELD  PER  ACRE  OF  AIR-DRY  CORN  UPON  DUPLICATE  PLATS,   1893. 


Variety. 

a 

b 

c 

d 

Average- 

Murdock 

424 

33    5 

37   7 

28   4 

s'?   7 

Learning   ...                        ....              

SO.  7 

29.7 

43  •  5 

34.  5 

34  6 

Edmonds  

24.7 

32  .9 

28.3 

Dunlap's  white 

28    4 

28    I 

28  2 

Steward's  improved 

2Q    7 

36    2 

33 

Riley's  favorite 

38  6 

37   6 

38    I 

Boone  county  white  

^2.Q 

34  6 

33.8 

Burr's  white  

35  .2 

42 

38.6 

Hess  white 

40    8 

2Q    S 

3S    2 

Hughes 

31  6 

37    I 

34-4 

Clark's  Onarga.                                             

37   7 

34.  3 

36 

Thomas  

21  .  S. 

29   2 

3O.4 

Log  cabin 

22   7 

31    8 

27    ^ 

Bickerdike's  early  mammoth 

21    I 

2Q 

25.  I 

Helms  improved  . 

II    6 

2O    4 

16 

Yellow  [  no  name  ]  

30.6 

30 

30.3 

When  the  variation  of  yield  of  different  varieties  does  not  exceed 
that  of  different  plats  of  the  same  variety  the  results  are  inconclusive.  A 
greater  variation  may  properly  be  attributed,  in  part  at  least,  to  the 
variety.  If  single  plats  are  used,  it  is  only  after  varieties  have  been 
tested  for  a  series  of  years  that  we  can  conclude  which  are  the  most 
prolific;  but  other  things  can  be  ascertained  in  a  single  year,  such  as 
time  of  maturity,  size,  ratio  of  ears  to  stalks,  ratio  of  shelled  corn  to 
cobs,  and  the  general  characteristics  of  stalk  and  ear.  If  several  plats, 


1894.] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,   1893. 


339 


widely  distributed  over  the  tract,  are  used  for  each  variety  and  the  aver- 
age yields  ascertained,  these  form  a  better  basis  for  a  comparison  of  the 
varieties  in  respect  to  yield ;  for  in  this  way  the  effect  of  differences  in 
the  conditions  of  the  test  is  much  diminished. 

MIXTURES. 

Four  plats  were  planted,  each  with  equal  parts  of  two  varieties  of 
corn,  and  one  with  equal  parts  of  four  varieties.  The  accompanying 
table  gives  the  number  of  ears  and  bushels  an  acre  for  each  variety 
planted  separately,  and  their  average  as  compared  with  the  result  of  the 
mixture.  In  four  out  of  the  five  cases  the  mixtures  gave  larger  yields  than 
the  average  of  the  varieties  composing  them.  This  is  contrary  to  the 
results  of  1892,  when  in  four  out  of  five  cases  the  yields  were  smaller 
for  the  mixtures.  In  1892,  the  average  difference  in  yield  was  3.7  bu.  an 
acre  in  favor  of  the  varieties  grown  separately;  in  1893,  2.4  bu.  in  favor 
of  the  mixtures. 

RESULTS  OF  MIXTURES,  1893. 


Plat 

Yield 
acre 

per 

No. 

Name  of  Variety. 

No.  of 
ears. 

Bu.    air- 
dry 
corn. 

45  &   I  IO 

Hughes  

8520 

34.  3 

63  &   III 

Thomas  

7620 

30-4 

Average  

8700 

32-3 

IOI 

Mixture  of  Hughes  and  Thomas  

9000 

20.5 

13   &  IIS 

Burr's    white  ....          

IO2OO 

38  6 

12  &  114 

Boone  county  white  

8690 

33-8 

Average  ...        ...        ... 

QAAG. 

36.2 

102 

Mixture  

8760 

36.7 

1:7  &  07 

Riley's  favorite 

63OO 

18  I 

•3A     &    IO7 

Bickerdike's  early  mammoth 

828O 

25    I 

ii  &  106 

Hess  white          ....                ... 

Q660 

•    35.2 

10  &  86 

Dunlap's  white  

7O80 

28    2 

Average                                        

Sozs 

3i  6 

103 

Mixture  

9600 

37-5 

Murdock  (average  of  4  plats)  

9600 

35:7 

"?8  &  08 

Kdmonds.  . 

774.0 

28.3 

Average 

8670 

32 

104 

Mixture  _  

9120 

37-3 

Learning  (average  of  4  plats) 

8070 

34   6 

56  &  06 

Clark's    Onarga 

0240 

36 

Average 

86er 

35    ^ 

JQ5 

Mixture  

9360 

47-3 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  VARIETIES. 

The  table  on  page  340  gives  a  classification  of  the  varieties  tested 
this  year,  and  the  yield  of  air-dry  corn  by  each  variety.  It  is  based  upon 
the  time  of  ripening,  color,  and  smoothness  or  roughness  of  the  outer 
end  of  the  kernels.  Varieties  maturing  before  Sept.  i3th  are  classed  as 
early;  those  maturing  Sept.  i3th  to  Sept.  3oth,  as  medium;  and  those 
maturing  after  Oct.  ist,  as  late.  The  varieties  that  are  very  near  the 


34° 


BULLETIN  NO.  31. 


[March, 


SYNOPSIS  OF  VARIETIES,  1893. 

f  Learning  (av.  4  plats) 33 . 3  ^ 

Star 27.3   | 

Woodhull 22 

Bickerdike's  early  mammoth.  21.1 

Clarage 22.1 

Yellow  (no  name) 22.3 

Munns 30 . 3 

f  Smooth.  ^   Clark's Iroquois .  30.7   ^30.3 

B.  O.  E.  ensilage 40 

Queen  of  the  field 33-4 

Thomas  corn 31 . 5 

Minnesota  king 26.8 

Early  Huron 37 .6 

Early  Butler 35-5 

I   Cuban  queen 40 . 4 

/••  Yellow  .  « 

"  Murdock  (av.  4  plats) 35.7 

Chester  county  mammoth ...  17.3 

Log  cabin 22.7 

Eclipse 16.  i 

Yellow  (no  name) 34-5 

Edmonds  (av.  2  plats) 28 .8 

Rough . .  •{   Legal  tender 33.8   ^28.9 

Pride  of  the  north 30.  i 

Yellow  (no  name).  _ 21.8 

Early  . .  J  Pride  of  Columbia 34-6 

i  King  of  the  earlies 31-? 

Wisconsin  yellow 33-9 

L  Learning 34  •  5  J 

C  White  (no  name) 19.5  ") 

j    Champion  white  pearl, 42 

qmnoth    J   White  (no  name) 30 . 4    I  „ 

th'VMills  county  white... 33.2    f  3I 

White  (no  name) 35-2    I 

(^  Baker's  white 26 

I  White  . .  J 

'  Ohio  white  dent 26.8  ^ 

Dunlap's  white  (av.  2  plats). .  28.2 

Ivory  dent 28 . 9   j 

Rough..  <j    Wisconsin  white 34-9    r"3r 

j   Van's  early 31.6    I 

j  White  (no  name) 39-2   j 

^  Callaway's  white 32      J 

Pride  of  Kansas 35  •  5  1 

Golden  beauty 36.4 

Fisk's  yellow 19.5 

Yellow  (no  name) 27.1 

Hughes  (av.  2  plats) 34.3 

Learning 31.8 

Sterling 22 

j    Clark's  Onarga  (av.  2  plats). .  36 

Arleus 33-2 

Branson's  climax 40 . 8 

Nims  prolific 31.8 

_  Waterloo  extra  early 30.8 

Early  golden 19.3 

Golden  dent .  30.6 

Bickerdike's  early  mammoth.  29 

Log  cabin 31.8 

Thomas  corn 29 . 2  j 


i894.] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893. 


341 


f  Yellow  .  •{  f  Piasa  queen 16 

Farmers'  interest 29 

Prentice  corn 24 . 2 

Champaign  county  prolific. . .  22 

Early  mastodon 28.3 

Cloud's  early 30.5 

Rough . .  •{   Baker's  yellow 26 

California  yellow 30.4 

Yellow  (no  name)  (av.  2  plats)  30.3 

Medium  •{  Steward's  improved  (a?.  2  plats)  32.9 

Riley's  favorite  (av.  2  plats)..  38.1 

Little  boss 25.5 

Learning 43.5 

Mixed  .  .  •{   Rough .  .  -{   Blue  River 45.2 

Smooth.  •{    Hess  white  (av.  2  plats) 35.1 

f  Piasa  king. 23.6 

IFisk's  white 41.2 

Boone  Co.  white  (av.  2  plats)  33.7 

!   Burr's  white  (av.  2  plats) 38.6 

1    White  beauty 34.8 

I   Champion  white  pearl 37-3 

Clark's  favorite 15.8 

[_  Short  stalk 31.1 


•29.1 


White  .  . 


Rough 


^  Late  ...^  White..  -{  Smooth. «(  Helms  improved  (av.  2  plats)  16 
dividing  lines  as  to  time  of  maturity  and  smoothness  or  roughness,  are 
subject  from  year  to  year- to  change  from  one  class  to  another,  hence  we 
see  that  the  classification  for  1893  differs  considerably  from  that  of  for- 
mer years.  The  fact  that  so  many  varieties~which  have  heretofore  been 
classed  as  medium,  fall  this  year  into  the  early  class,  can  be  accounted 
for  by  the  dryness  of  the  season. 

RESULTS. 

The  number  of  plats  in  each  of  the  three  classes,  early,  medium  and 
late,  and  the  results  for  each  class  for  each  of  six  years,  are  shown  in  the 
table  on  page  343.  In  each  of  the  years  1888  to  1892,  inclusive,  there 
has  been  an  average  of  from  four-fifths  to  seven-eights  of  a  full  stand, 
reckoning  four  stalks  in  each  hill  as  a  full  stand.  In  1893,  however,  the 
stand  was  more  nearly  perfect,  it  being  over  93  per  cent.  The  better 
stand  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  corn  was  planted  thicker  than  usual, 
and  afterward  thinned  to  four  plants  a  hill. 

For  1888,  1890,  1891,  and  1892  the  per  cent  of  barren  stalks  was 
comparatively  uniform,  averaging  about  eleven;  while  in  1889  it  drop- 
ped to  about  1.5  per  cent,  and  in  1893  went  up  to  22,  23,  and  50  per 
cent  for  the  three  classes,  early,  medium,  and  late,  respectively.  Only 
one  variety  was  classed  as  late,  and  it  has  made  some  very  good  yields  in 
former  years.  The  noticeable  barrenness  in  1893,  is  probably  due, 
chiefly,  to  the  severe  drought  and  the  fact  that  the  corn  was  planted 
thicker  than  formerly. 

Though  varying  much  from  year  to  year,  owing  to  the  nature  of 
the  season,  in  general  the  height  of  both  stalks  and  ears  increased  with 
lateness  of  maturity,  as  did  also  the  length  and  circumference  of  ears. 


342 


BULLETIN  NO.   3! 


[March, 


In  general  the  weight  of  100  ears  has  increased,  and  the  number  of 
ears  per  acre  decreased  with  the  lateness  of  maturing.  The  pounds  of 
ear  corn,  as  weighed  when  husked,  which  must  be  taken  to  make  a 
bushel  of  air-dry  shelled  corn,  invariably  increase  with  the  lateness  of 
maturity.  This  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  per  cent  of  water  is 
greater  in  the  late  maturing  varieties  when  husked. 

Each  year,  excepting  1892,  the  medium  maturing  varieties  have 
made  the  largest  average  yields;  the  average  of  air-dry  shelled  corn  for 
the  six  years  being  as  follows:  Medium,  65.3  bu. ;  late,  59.5  bu.;  and 
early,  54.4  bu.  per  acre. 

The  following  table  gives  the  yield  for  each  of  eight  varieties  for 
seven  years,  and  of  eleven  for  six  years,  arranged  in  the  order  of  the 
average  yields.  Of  these  varieties,  champion  white  pearl,  Burr's  white, 
and  Helms  improved,  are  white;  the  others  are  yellow.  Murdock  and 
Edmonds  are  early  maturing,  Helms  improved,  late,  and  the  others, 
medium.  The  average  yield  of  the  eleven  varieties  for  six  years  is 
62.9  bu.  per  acre.  Other  varieties  of  considerable  merit,  that  have  been 
tested  for  three  or  more  years,  are  Dunlap's  white,  Clark's  Onarga,  Cali- 
fornia yellow,  and  ivory  dent. 

YIELD  OF  AIR-DRY  CORN  OF  VARIETIES  TESTED  FOR  YEARS  NAMED. 


Eight  varieties  tested  in 

1887. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

1891. 

1892. 

1893. 

Av. 

Learning  ,  

29    6 

86.6 

80  6 

69.4 

67.3 

70  i 

34  6 

62.6 

Champion  white  pearl...    . 
Burr's  white 

20.2 

•3Q 

70 
8=5    Q 

94.8 
7e   7 

74-9 
67  7 

76.5 
67   7 

65 

64    2 

37-3 
18  6 

62.4 

6l     4 

Steward'  s  improved  yellow. 
Riley's  favorite 

32.4 

30  8 

QI.2 
8l.8 

68.7 
66  i 

54-7 

C3      -3 

58.4 
56    I 

74-4 
74    i 

33 

^8   i 

59 
57    2 

Murdock  

33  .  ^ 

So.  3 

65 

61  6 

59   8 

57.6 

35   7 

56    2 

Legal  tender  

25.8 

84.2 

68.9 

60 

56  8 

60.3 

33.8 

55  .7 

Edmonds  

27.7 

83.7 

66.3 

55-9 

58.6 

58.4 

28.3 

54-1 

Eleven  varie  ties  tested  i 

n 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

1891. 

1892. 

i893. 

Av. 

Champion  white  pearl.  .    .    . 

70 

Q4.8 

74  -9 

76.5 

65 

37.  3 

69.7 

Learning  

86.6 

80.6 

69.4 

67.3 

70.  1 

34.6 

68.1 

Burr's  white     ... 

85  Q 

75    7 

67   7 

67   7 

64    2 

^8  6 

66  6 

Steward's  improved  yellow 

QI    2 

68   7 

1:4    7 

c8    4 

74   4 

33 

63    4 

Clark's  Iroquois.  .  .  . 

68.  5 

8l   9 

CQ 

65  4 

72    9 

3O   7 

6^    I 

Riley's  favorite  

83.7 

66.3 

55.9 

58  6 

74.  1 

38  i 

62.8 

Helms  improved 

84  8 

IO2    6 

ci    i 

•3Q 

7Q   2 

16 

62    I 

Fisk's  yellow   . 

76  6 

7Q    5 

6l    7 

C7    4 

60    1 

IQ    5 

5Q    I 

Legal  tender  

84    2 

68  7 

60 

56  8 

60    3 

^  8 

60  6 

Murdock  

80    3 

65 

61  6 

50  8 

=57    6 

357 

60 

Edmonds  

81.1 

66.1 

53-3 

56.1 

58.4 

28.3 

57-2 

A  comparison  of  the  white  and  yellow  varieties  for  1893,  shows  an 
average  yield  of  30.5  bu.  an  acre  for  the  white  and  30.4  bu.  for  the  yel- 
low. A  comparison  of  the  rough  and  smooth  ones,  gives  an  average 
yield  of  30.6  bu.  an  acre  for  the  rough  and  30.3  bu.  for  the  smooth.  The 
average  yield  per  acre  for  six  years  is  61.6  bu.  for  the  white,  and  60.4 
bu.  for  the  yellow. 


i894.] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893. 


343 


Der  cent   water  in  corn 
as   husked. 

COOO    CM 

VO  00  00 

IO   Tf  CM 

CO  ON  co 

vo  «o  co 

t^  Tf  CM 

*When  shelled. 

00     HI    fs. 
HI    CM    CM 

VO    COOO 
M    CM    CM 

vo  oo  co 

M      HI      CM 

**  sT* 

M   o   ON 

CM    CM    CM 

COOO    t^ 
CM    CM    CO 

Loss  per  acre  in  dry- 
ing,  bu. 

CM    Tf 

l^  M    t-^ 

t^  t-^ 

.      .      . 

CM  OO    O* 

Hi  VO  VO 

t^  CM  CO 

CO  COOO 

HI     M 

co  10  ON 

'      '      I 

^l^nT 

VOI^VO 

oT 

3 

sJ 

2 

Total  air-dry. 

VO  00    CM 

m  ON  co 

i-^oo  oo 

vo   Tf  m 

10  10  CO 

VO        vo 

10  CM  VO 

iovo  m 

H     HI     Tf 

VO  vO   t^ 
IOVO    10 

CO           CM 

CM  CO    O 
IOVO    t^ 

O    M  vO 
•    co  co  « 

Total,  as  husked. 
i 

VO        vo 

CM    CM    Hi 

00    O    O 

CO  10  CM 

co  t^.vO 

CM   ON  ON 

00      H, 

00     H,    O 

ONOO    CM 

1000   ON 

ON  t^  vn 

iovo  vo 

H? 

o  looo 

VO    t^CO 

vo  ON  CM 
CO  CO  CM 

From  nubbins. 

HI               Tf 

moo  o 

M     M     CM 

IO  f-  CM 

00    t>-  10 

.       .       . 

co  ON  CM 

M     M     CM 

Tf    t^OO 
M     M     HI 

\  '.  '. 

;     ;     ; 

From  good  ears. 

m       CM 

r>.  Tf  M 
vo  oo  oo 

00  00 

1O            HI 

1000    O 

Tf    0      t^ 
Tf    10     Tf 

1 
5 

As  husked   per  bu. 
air-dry. 

CO    M    00 

•     VO    HI    CM 

Tf  ro 

00  OO 

CM    IOVO 
t^  t^OO 

Tf  vo  ON 

l-»vO   ON 
t^  t^CO 

ONOO 

Tf    HI    00 

00    ON  O 

COOO    l^ 

r^  t^oo 

O    M    O 

r>-oo  ON 

O  cooo 

As   husked  per 
bu. 

CM       Tf    Tf 

HI    VO 

CM    CM    M 

co  co  t^ 

HI       Tf 

Tf    f«. 

t^CO      HI 

VO  vo   t^ 

£££ 

VO    t~>.  t^ 

vO  vo  vO 

vO    ON  t^ 
vO  vO  vo 

*  *  * 

00  CO    HI 
vO  vo   t^ 

HI     CO    t^. 

•—  ' 

M) 

1 

100  average  ears. 

COOO    O 

mvo  oo 

O\    M     f>« 

cnvo  O 

Tf    O    00 

CM  00  CO 
O  OO    ON 

MCOON 

O  m  co 

100  nubbins. 

m  co  M 
co  co  m 

SS-S 

OO      M      Tf 

CM    CO  CO 

IOVO 

00      HI     CO 

CM    CO  CO 

VO  10  t>. 

100  good  ears. 

O       Tf    CO 

vo  f^  ON 

VO    CM    HI 

CO    M 
10    M      O 

iovo  vo 

vo  vo    co 

ONOO    M 

Tf    IOVO 

COVO     HI 
IOVO  00 

00    vn  ON 

Tf  vn  Tf 

Total    number  ears 
per  acre. 

m  cooo 

Tf  CM    O 
IO  CM    O 

0    0    ON 

o  o  >n 
oo   co  O> 

OO    CM  OO 

ON  O   ON 

co   Tf  vn 

ON  O    Tf 
00    ONCO 

CM     Tf  CO 

10  co  HI 
ON  ON  00 

CM  oo  vn 
CM  in  i^ 

ONOO    O 
ON  ON  ON 

VO    Is-  O 

O    CM  CO 

00      l^     Tf 

1    Number  nubbins  per 
i                  acre. 

oo  HI  m 

Tf    Tf    Tf 

ON  t^  l^ 

CM    CM    CM 

O   10  O 

vo    co  Tf 

CO  IOOO 

O    ONVO 

HI       Tf    O 

VO    t^-CO 

00    O    O 
OO    O    O 

Tf  co  co 

^     "*"     Tf 

°S-TfV§ 

«& 

Number  good   ears 
per  acre. 

f^  CM    CO 

CNOO  vo 

VO  Tf  CM 

Sm  10 
ON  vo 
.  vnvo    O 
vO  vo  vo 

Tf  CM    Hi 

t^  ON  in 

CO  CM  VO 

m  10  Tf 

Tf    Tf    CM 

VO     CO    HI 

Tf    CO    HI 

mvo  m 

CM  CO     HI 
CM    Tf  O 

in  m  m 

oo  m  o 
moo  CM 

CM    CO  CO 
CM    CM    M 

Average. 

Circum.  3  specimen 
cobs,  in. 

l^          CM 

CO    Tf    Tf 

Tf  ON   CO 

tx  00    CO 

t^  ON  ON 

10  ON 

•       '       • 

ro  co  Tf 

co  co  co 

CO  CO  CO 

CO   CO    Tf 

;     ;    ; 

Circum.  3  specimen 
ears,  in. 

CO          CM 

vO   t^  ^ 

CM     Tf  CM 

TfVO    CM 

CM  VO    CM 

M    VO 

.    .    . 

VO  vo   f^ 

VO  vo  vo 

VO  VO  vO 

VO  vo   t^ 

;  i  : 

Length  3  specimen 
ears,   in. 

CO          C^. 

oo'   ON  ON 

Tf   M   VO 

HI     CO    Tf 

vo         «o 

t^.  Tf  CO 

.  .  . 

r^oo   ON 

00  00  CO 

t>.oo  t^ 

f*OO  00 

i  '.  ; 

Height  butt  of  ear, 
feet. 

vo  vn  n 

OO    CM    t1^ 

vn  vo  CM 

Tf  N    CO 

ts.cn  Tf 

COVO    CO 

Tf  mvo 

Height  stalks,  ft. 

co   m  CM 

ON  ON  ON 

H,    VO      M 

00    t^vo 

M   00     « 

co  t> 

ON  M  CM 

VO  00   ON 

oo  ON  O 

VO    t^OO 

00  00    O 

HI 

t>-  t^oo 

1 

£ 

Of   barren  stalks. 

00     M    CO 

HI      M 

t^  CM    10 

HI      HI 

O    N    co 

TfvO  00 
o"  CM'  Tf 

00    ON  O 

HI 

CM    CO  O 
CM    CM    m 

Of  full  stand. 

oo  t^.  m 

OO  OO  00 

0^^ 

ON  co  ON 
f^OO   t^ 

M      Tf 

vo'  vo    Tf 
00  00  00 

Hi    CM    O 

OC  00  00 

ss% 

Kernels  germinating 
in  field. 

Tf     O       Tf 

OO  CO    l^ 

RSvi? 

M    VO      M 

00  00  00 

t^oo  c^ 

CO  00  00 

M      t^    10 

ON  00  00 

:  :  : 

Kernels  germinating 
in  apparatus. 

ON  ON  ON 

CO  t>.VO 

vO    Tf  co 
ON  ON  ON 

:  :  : 

vo   ON  co 
ONOO    ON 

SSS, 

|       .      .      . 

!   .  :  : 

1    :  :  : 

I    :  :  :  i    :  :  :  i    :  :  : 

M         •         •         • 

'  E    ' 

»       •_,       •  00       •    p       •  OO       •      •      • 
M.g.M.b.M.g. 

ON      '       • 
°°      "    G 

^!li 

111! 

rf    •           • 

SS  "u    QJ    V  * 

5  T,  <u  o3 

^    co  ONVO 

*p,  rt    g    oj  'Q_I  rt    g    cci 
14-1  VO    l^  ONu-i    ON  ON  CM 

z 

* 

>'                      ^ 

> 

> 

> 

344 


BULLETIN   NO.   31 


[March, 


Ears. 


Stalks. 


M       vo  O   m 

fC   CO  CO   CO  CO 


CO  00  00  CO    t^OO  CO 


Date   of  ripening. 


Per    cent    of  bar- 
ren stalks. 


VO    <^ 

MVO 


O    HOOVOOO    O^ 
HNNNMM 


O    »O  N     ^J-  in   Hi     ^Tj- 


Per    cent   of   full 
stand  of  stalks. 


O>  N   t^OO    MVO    HI    O    lOfOONO    ^-iOO    •^•N    f^vO    N    PO  «OOO   ui  in  ro  O 

CO    O    O    Ov  CTiOO    CTv  Oi  O    C^OO    O  ON  O    CT>  O\  OiOO    OiOO    O>00  OO    Q\  O    CTi  O 


Per  cent    germinat'g  *  *  §  «  §  §  «  *  g  «  «  »  °°  § 
n  Geneva  apparatus. 


Ov^     * 


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5_sY    gs|^j°e~ 

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11 

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D3O 


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1894-]  FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893.  345 

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346 


BULLETIN   NO.   31. 


Ears. 


Stalks. 


Date   of   Ripening. 


Per    cent    of  bar- 
ren stalks. 


row   N   POM 


>O  t^vo   t^vo  vo  O  vO  oo  vO  vo 


nvO         m  <N    in  O\  O\  t>-<X>   N    ro  N 
vo  oo  oo  t^ 


oinrorororoiou~>«ninmioinro 
-    tl  D-. 


O  co 


ro  r~~  »n  M  t^  ro  m  u~>vo  t-^  n  t^co  rn  TJ-  rj-co  vo   M 


Per    cent    of    full 
stand  of  stalks. 


N    M     (S     M 


Per  cent  germinat'g 
n  Geneva  apparatus. 


OVO       • 

a>  a>   • 


CO 


<iWU 


WOc/       PQ 


rt 

fit 


OHO 


W  H^O  «  Z  co 


rt.  »-•...  w..... 

11  j  2  ^  :  :l  :  :l--  : 

3,      ^o-g-^^cSgs.S.Sl^ 


* 


Plat. 


i894-] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893. 


347 


M  VO    O    O      •  vo  VO    O  OO  00    O    O          N 

ON  ON  O    O      •    ON  ON  O   ONOO    O    ON     •  00 


BULLETIN   NO.   31, 


[March, 


£ 

Av.  ears. 

•rt-  lx  N  o  O  tx  CTIVO  C\  co  M  1-1  oo  TJ-OO  m  N  lx  m  N  m  M  o  m  COM 

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0 

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Total. 

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rt 

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Plat. 

iS94-] 


F^IELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,   1893. 


349 


VARIETY  TESTS,  YIELD,  1893. 


2 
sr 

Name  of  variety. 

Perct.  water  in  shelled 
corn  as  husked. 

ILb.  per  acre  ear  corn 
as  husked. 

p 
s! 

l§ 

«r° 

p-s 

0* 

c 

r 
cr 

CTp 

C    w 

if 

»  g 

n   CL 

h 

p 

?r 

CD 

Bu.    shelled 
corn  per  acre. 

> 

GO 
OR 

1 
| 

> 
»»• 

n 

o. 

i-t 
vs 

Loss  drying. 

i 
^ 

3 

4 

6 

8 
9 

10 

ii 

12 

J3 

M 

'5 
16 

J7 
18 

!9 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 

27 
28 

29 
30 
32 

33 

34 
35 
36 
37 
38 
39 
40 

4i 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
49 
50 
5i 
52 
^3 

Learning 

sf-5 

31-2 

34  4 
18.1 

25 
18.2 
24.2 
24.2 

19 
27.6 
31-8 

23  4 
21.9 
28 
25-6 
32.4 

21.6 

27.6 
24  7 

22 
28.3 
27.8 
24-5 
31-3 
265 

31-5 
22.4 
28.4 
27.9 
26.1 

31 
28.9 

31-5 
19 
30.2 

23  7 

29.7 

29-5 
27.8 
29.2 
21.9 

24-4 
29.2 
26 
26.3 

22  6 
29.2 

22.9 
27 
22.1 
26.2 

2420 
1250 
1540 
2370 
3200 
4160 
3240 
2520 
1840 
2300 
3600 
3290 
2950 
3520 
2690 
2710 
3480 
2670 
3200 
3200 
2250 
2630 
2240 

2IOO 
3590 
1530 
2050 
2370 
3290 
2850 
2040 
I9OO 
2040 
1760 
1670 
1470 
1870 
2260 
2730 
2300 
2880 
2390 
2890 
3110 
2580 
2570 
2440 
2850 
3390 
2770 
3250 
28^0 

66.4 

76 
74.7 
74.1 
67.8 
77.5 
72.3 

80.2 
80.2 

73.1 

71.8 

76.6 
72.2 

73-5 
75-2 
74:4 
76 
70.9 
74 
72.5 
68.1 

77-5 
75-3 
80.6 
78.1 

73 
71.7 

73-1 
72.7 
76.1 

74-7 
75-6 
77-3 
85.5 
68.7 
71.8 
72 
68.5 
71.2 
68.9 
74-9 
69.2 
71.1 
78.4 
72.2 
71.6 
69.2 
67.8 
72 
73-2 
71-5 

74.4 

78.8 
107.8 
96.2 
100.4 

73-7 
92 
78.6 
94.1 

94-4 
81 
88.2 

100 

83.8 
83.8 
93.1 

89.1 

100 

80.4 
90.9 
85.8 

77  .6 
96.3 
92.6 
95.2 

IOI.I 

88.4 
93-2 
83.7 
90.4 

93-4 
89.9 

97-4 
96.7 
in.  4 
75.6 
9i-3 
83.9 
86.9 
89.8 
84.9 
94.1 
78.9 
83.8 

98.4 
86.9 
86.5 
79-5 
85-1 
83.1 
89.1 

8i.3 
80.6 

36.4 
16.4 

20.  6 
32 
47-2 
53-7 
44.8 

3i.4 
22.9 

3i-5 
50.1 

42-9 
40.9 
47-9 
35-8 
36.4 
45.8 
37-6 
43-2 
44.1 
33-i 
33-9 
29.7 
26.1 
46 
20.9 
28.6 
32.4 
45-3 
37-4 
27.3 
25.1 
26.4 
20.  6 

24-3 
20.5 
26 

33 
38.3 
33-4 
38.4 
34-5 
40.7 

39-7 
35-7 
35-9 
35-2 
42.1 
47.1 
37.8 

45-4 
18.3 

30.7 
ii.  6 
16 
23-6 
43-4 
45-2 
41.2 
26.8 

J9-5 
28.4 
40.8 
32.9 
35.2 
42 
28.9 
30.4 
34-8 
33-2 
35-2 
37-3 
29 
27.3 
24.2 

22 
35-5 
17-3 
22 
28.3 
36.4 
30.5 
22.7 

19.5 
21.  1 
I5.8 
22.1 
I6.I 
22.3 
26 

30.4 
27.1 
30.6 
30.3 

34-5 
31-6 
29.7 
29-7 
30-7 
33-5 
40.8 

3i.i 
40 

IT.  8 

5-7 
4-8 
4.6 
8.4 
3-8 
8.5 
3-6 
4.6 
3-4 
3.1 
9-3 

10 

5-7 
5.9 
6-9 
6 
ii 

4-4 
8 
6.8 

4-i 
6.6 

5-5 
4.1 
10.5 
3-6 
6.6 
4-1 
8.9 
6.9 
4.6 
5-6 
5-3 
4.8 

2.2 

4-4 
3-7 
7 
7-9 
6.3 
7.8 
4.2 

6.2 

8.1 
6 

6.2 

4-5 
8.6 

6.3 

6.7 

5-4 
6.<;. 

Helms  improved                                  

Piasa  cjueoii                                    

Piasa  king.            

Murdock 

Blue  River                                                

Fisk's  white                                        

Ohio  white  dent          .        

\Vhite  variety  (no  name) 

Dunlap's  white   

Hess  white 

Boone  county  white  .                             

Burr's  white.                        

Champion  white  pearl   

Ivory  dent  

\Vhite  variety  (no  name) 

White  beauty                               ... 

Mills  county  white                    

White  variety  (no  name)            

Champion  white  pearl  

Farmers'  interest  

Star  corn  

Prentice  corn                                   .        .... 

Woodhull                                

Pride  of  Kansas                       

Chester  county  mammoth  

Champaign  county  prolific 

Early  mastodon  

Golden  beauty 

Cloud's  early                                            ... 

Leg  cabin                                            

Fisk's  yellow                              

Bickerdike's  early  mammoth  

Clark1  s  favorite  

Clarage 

Eclipse 

Yellow  variety  (no  name) 

Baker's  yellow               ....        .            

California  yellow  

Yellow  variety  (no  name)  

Munns 

Yellow  variety  (no  name)  ....        .          

Hughes              

Steward's  improved  

Learning 

Clark's  Iroquois 

Murdock           

Burr  Oaks  Learning 

Short  stalk 

B   O    E  Ensilage 

Learning.  . 

35° 


BULLETIN   NO.   31 


[  March, 


VARIETY  TESTS,  YIELD,  1893 — Continued. 


2 

p" 

Nams  of  variety. 

Per  ct.  water  in  shelled 
corn  as  husked. 

P 

(D 

^ 

?§ 

£D 

s-l 

P 
o 

3 

r 
p* 

eg 
11 

CLX3 
'       % 

o- 

e 

82.1 

72.5 
70.6 

71 
64-4 
73 
73.5 
69.4 

7i 
72.5 
70.8 
67.2 
70.3 
72.4 
77-3 
67-5 
66.2 

69.5 
72.4 
66.1 
68.3 
62.2 

74-3 

70 

67.9 
72.4 
65.6 

74-7 
73-9 
69.7 
78.3 
76.6 

69-3 
69.2 

77-9 
78.2 
72.6 
68.1 
68.7 

69-5 
68.3 
67.6 
77 
73 
70.7 
68.5 

69 
69.8 

76.3 
74.7 
78.4 
77   8 

£ 
g-8 

II 

?l 

^o 

^  3 
P 

?r 

CD 

Bu.  shelled 
corn  per  acre. 

> 
w 
w 
cr 
£L 
nT 
p. 

> 
M" 

CU- 

3 

i 

w 

a, 
^ 

5' 
<w 

54 
55 
56 
57 
58 
59 
60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 

69 
70 

7i 
72 

73 
74 
75 
76 
77 
78 
79 
80 
81 
82 
83 
84 
85 
86 
88 
9i 
92 
94 
95 
96 
97 
98 
99 

101 
IO2 
103 
I04 
105 
1  06 
107 
1  08 
109 

no 

Sterling. 

28.9 
21.7 
24.7 
19.8 
29.6 
26.3 
30.2 

17.9 
22.3 
22.7 
27.1 

23.3 
28.8 
27.6 

21 
22.1 

16  q 

2260 
3160 

3150 
3040 

20IO 
2980 
2830 
2510 
270O 
2630 
3530 
2350 
3180 
2830 
1900 
2670 
1840 
2690 
2540 
2690 
2760 
2110 
22IO 
3430 
2520 
2850 
2390 
1980 
3110 
3060 
3770 
2910 
2260 
3820 
2240 
2630 
3680 
3l8o 
2990 
3280 
2700 
3020 
2I2O 
3650 
3170 
2990 
3960 
2520 
3060 
2780 
3090 
3870 

102.7 
98.4 
83.6 
78.8 
8l.4 

88.2 
93  7 
75-1 
81.3 

83.5 
86.5 
78.1 
87.8 

89 
87.2 
77.2 
70.8 

87.3 
94.8 

7L5 

77.7 
66.6 
86.7 
84.9 

74-3 
81.7 
75-6 

102.6 

101.6 

81.2 
96.2 
90.9 
80.4 
87.8 
109.8 
92.6 
88.2 
76.8 
87.1 
87.2 
81.9 
79-  9| 
I03.4I 
99-5 
84.5 
80.2, 

83.7! 
85.4 
105.5 
92.7 
97.2 

104.3 

27.5 
36.5 
44-6 
42.8 
3L2 
40.8 
38.5 
36.1 
38 
36.3 
49-9 
35 
45.2 
39-1 
24.6 
39-6 
27.8 
38.7 
35-1 
40.7 
40.4 

33-9 
29.7 

49 
37-i 
39-4 
36.4 
26.5 
42.1 

43-9 
48.2 
38 
32.6 
55-2 
28.8 
33-6 
50.7 
46.7 
43-6 
47-2 
39-6 
44-7 
27-5 
50 
44-9 
43.6 
57-4 
36.1 
40.1 
37-2 
39-4 
4Q.7 

22 
32.1 

37.7 
38.6 

24.7 

33.8 
30.2 

33-4 
33-2 
31.5 
40.8 
30.1 
36.2 
31.8 

21.8 

34-6 
26 
30.8 
26.8 
37-6 
35-5 
31-7 
25.5 
40.4 

33-9 
34.9 
31.6 
19-3 
30.6 

37-7 
39.2 
32 

28.1 

43-5 
20.4 
28.4 
4i-7 
41.4 
34.3 
37-6 
32.9 
37.8 
20.5 

36.7 
37-5 
37-3 

47.3 
29-5 
29 
3° 
31.8 
37.  i! 

5-5 
4-4 
6-9 
4.2 
6-5 

8-3 

2-7 

4.8 
4.8 
9.1 
4-9 
9 
7-3 

2.8 

1.8 
7-9 
8-3 
3-1 
4-9 

2.2 
4-2 

8.6 

3.2 

4-5 
4.8 
7.2 
ii.S 

6.2 

9 
6 

4-5 
11.  7 
8.4 
5-2 
9 
5-3 
9-3 
9-6 
6.7 
6-9 
7 
13-3 
7-4 
6.3 

10.  I 

6.6 
n  .  i 

7-2 

7.6 

12.6 

Improved  Learning 

Clark's  Onarga  

Riley's  favorite  

Edmonds  

Legal  tender 

go-day  

Queen  of  the  field  

Arleus  

Thomas  corn   .    , 

Branson's  climax   . 

Pride  of  the  north  

Steward's  improved  

Nims  prolific  

Yellow  variety  (no  name)  

Pride  of  Columbia. 

Baker'  s  white  

Waterloo  extra  early  

2Q    2 

Minnesota  king  

32.1 
17.8 
21.4 
16.7 
23.6 
26.6 

18.8 

21.2 

22.7 

35-1 
35-4 
23-7 
27.6 

25 
23-4 
29.9 

37 
24.8 
26.8 
21.  i 
30 
29 
25.9 
24.6 
33.7 
34-7 
25.6 

23.9 
26.7 
27.2 

35-  7i 
28.2' 
28.3 
33  6 

Early  Huron          .    .    . 

Early  Butler  

King  of  the  earliest  

Little  boss  

Cuban  queen  

Wisconsin  yellow 

'  '         white  «  

Van's  early  

Early  golden  

Golden  dent  

Murdock  

White  variety  (no  name)  . 

Callaway's  white  

Dunlap's  white  

Learning  

Helms  improved  

Champion  white  pearl  —  Burr's  white  cross.  . 
Learning  —  Burr's  white  cross 

Edmonds  —  Murdock  cross  

Clark's  Onarga  

Riley's  favorite  

Edmonds  

Edmonds  —  Burr's  white  cross 

Mixture  a  

b  

"        c  .  .  .  .                    .    . 

d  

"         e  

Hess  white   .    . 

Bickerdike's  early  mammoth  

Yellow  variety  (no  name)  

Log  cabin  

Hughes.  . 

1 894-] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893. 


351 


VARIETY  TESTS,  YIELD,  1893 — Continued. 


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I 

Experiment  No.  j.      Corn,  Time  of  Planting. 

Experiments  to  test  the  effect  of  time  of  planting  on  yield  and 
growth  have  been  conducted  for  the  past  six  years.  The  land  used  in 
1893  was  in  clover  during  1891  and  1892.  The  last  of  April  and 
first  of  May  it  was  treated  with  barnyard  manure,  at  the  rate  of  about 
thirty  loads  an  acre,  and  plowed  about  five  inches  deep.  The  plats, 
seven  in  number,  were  each  6  x  60  hills  in  area.  They  were  planted  by 
hand  with  Burr's  white  corn,  in  hills  3  ft.  8  in.  apart  each  way,  six  ker- 
nels a  hill.  The  first  plat  was  planted  May  6th,  and  one  plat  was 
planted  each  week  thereafter,  till  June  iyth.  After  the  corn  was  well 
up,  it  was  thinned  to  four  plants  a  hill.  Plats  5  and  6  were  culti- 
vated four  times,  the  others  three  times.  The  cultivation  was  done  with 
surface  cultivators  and  the  remaining  weeds  removed  with  a  hoe.  Be- 
ginning June  1 3th,  the  height  of  each  plant  of  two  rows,  running  across 
the  seven  plats,  was  measured  each  week  during  its  growth.  The  aver- 
age weekly  height  in  inches  to  the  tip  of  tassel  and  upstretched  leaf,  for 
each  plat,  is  given  in  the  table. 

September  23d,  plats  1,2,  3,  and  4  were  cut  and  shocked,  and  Oct. 
i  ith  the  others  were  cut  and  shocked.  When  cut,  the  leaves  and  stalks 
of  plat  7  were  mostly  green.  When  husked  Oct.  28th  to  Nov.  ist, 
the  number  and  pounds  of  ears  were  ascertained  for  each  plat.  Twenty- 
five  pounds  of  ears  from  each  plat  was  shelled,  the  cobs  weighed,  and  a 
sample  of  the  shelled  corn  sent  to  the  laboratory  for  the  determination 
of  moisture. 

The  largest  yield  of  air-dry  corn,  is  from  planting  May  I3th, 
with  nearly  as  good  results  from  planting  May  6th.  Taking  the  aver- 
age of  six  years,  the  largest  yield  is  from  planting  May  nth  to  i6th, 
with  but  little  decrease  in  yield  from  planting  any  time  from  April  27th 
to  May  23d.  Corn  planted  May  27th,  matured  in  115  days.  This  is 


352  BULLETIN   NO.   31. 

RESULTS  WITH  CORN  FROM  PLANTING  AT  DIFFERENT  DATES,  1893. 


2 

d 

O 

When    husked. 

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May     6 

Sept.  16 

863i 

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70 

73-4 

47-4 

2. 

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"       17 

8118 

3512 

51.4 

16.9 

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36.5 

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June    3 

Oct.     6 

6300 

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38.4 

21.4 

72.7 

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25-8 

25.8 

73-6 

88.3 

21-5 

AVERAGE  HEIGHTS  TAKEN  WEEKLY  IN  INCHES  TO  TIP  OF  TASSEL  AND  LEAF,  1893. 


• 

June 
13 

June 
20 

June 
27 

July 
4 

July 

12 

July 

18 

July 
25 

Aug. 

I 

Aug. 
8 

Aug. 
23 

Aug. 
30 

Sept 
19 

j  Leaf.  .  . 
|  Tassel 

16.5 

3i 

44-5 

61 

76 

85.5 

92.5 

88 

93 
qi  .  5 

92 

QI 

9i.5 
8q    «; 

90.5 

80    5 

88 

QO    5 

(  Leaf.... 
/  Tassel  .  . 

14.5 

29 

43-5 

58 

73-5 

82.5 

93-5 
86.5 

95 
93-5 

95-5 
94.  ^ 

94-5 
92.  5 

95 

Q2  .  S 

90 
92 

(  Leaf.  .  .  . 
}  Tassel 

9.5 

20 

34 

46 

63.5 

72 

81.5 
76  5 

84 
81 

86 
84 

84.5 
83    5 

85 
83    5 

81.5 
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7 

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28 

37 

49-5 

60 

70 

74 
73 

78 
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77-5 
78 

77-5 

77 

75 

77 

j  Leaf.  .  .  . 
(  Tassel  .  . 

3-5 

IO 

20.5 

32.5 

4I-5 

5i.5 

60 

66.5 
56 

72 
68.5 

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75 
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73-5 

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12 

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54    5 

66  5 

60 

67 

I  Tassel.. 

65.5 

68 

67.5 

RESULTS  WITH  CORN  FROM  PLANTINGS  AT  DIFFERENT  DATES,   1888 — 1893. 


Dates. 


Bu.  air-dry  corn  per  acre. 


j 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

I89I. 

1892. 

1893- 

Av. 

April  22  —  25  

April  27  —  May  2  

80 

D* 

f\n 

51 

D1  O 

fi-7      fi 

May  4  —  9  

87 

44 

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5° 

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°7 

86 

51 

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71 

4° 

7° 

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47 
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"   19  —  23  

QM 

5° 

75 

5° 

&3 

f.C 

40 

G3 

fir 

"  26  —  June  i  

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82 

5° 

71 

52 

4° 

June  i  —  8  

°3 

Q, 

55 

74 
f\i 

34 

59 

fiR 

37 

57 

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5° 

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37 

34 

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55-2 

"«    17  —  20  

5° 

5° 

J9 

49 
30 

38 

22 

44-5 
26 

i894-] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS   WITH  CORN,    1893. 


353 


less  time  than  required  by  either  earlier  or  later  planting.  This,  together 
with  the  fact  that  the  first  three  plantings  reached  their  maximum  height 
about  the  same  time,  shows  the  more  rapid  growth  of  corn  planted  later 
in  the  season  when  the  ground  is  warm,  over  that  planted  earlier  when 
the  ground  is  cold. 

By  very  early  planting,  if  a  good  stand  is  secured  and  the  corn  kept 
equally  free  from  weeds,  we  may  expect  as  large  yields  as  from  later 
planting.  But  for  this  locality  the  extra  labor  required*to  remove  the 
weeds  and  the  risk  of  a  poor  stand,  will  not  justify  planting  earlier  than 
about  May  ist. 

Experiment  No.  4.  Corn,  Depth  of  Planting. 
May  24,  1893,  six  rows,  each  220  ft.  in  length,  were  planted  with 
Burr's  white  corn,  four  kernels  a  hill,  the  hills  and  rows  each  being  3  ft. 
8  in.  apart.  Row  one  was  planted  one  inch  deep,  and  each  succeeding 
row  one  inch  deeper  than  the  preceding.  The  land  was  adjacent  to 
that  used  for  Experiment  No.  5,  and  was  in  every  way  treated  the  same. 
As  in  former  years,  the  shallow  planting  gave  best  results.  From  the 
table  giving  results  for  five  years,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  average  num- 
ber of  ears  per  acre  uniformly  decreases  from  the  shallowest  to  the 
deepest  planting,  and  that,  in  general,  the  bushels  per  acre  also  de- 
creased. 

RESULTS  WITH  CORN  FROM  PLANTINGS  AT  DIFFERENT  DEPTHS. 


Ears  per  acre. 

Bushels  per  acr.e. 

Ears  in  a  bushel. 

1888. 

11,070 
9,630 
10,440 
9,630 
8,280 
5,940 

1889. 

10,530 
10,080 
8,190 
9,540 
8,820 
10,440 

1890. 

9,608 
9,385 
9,831 
7,485 
8,491 
8,389 

1892. 

8,280 
8.640 
8,910 
9,450 
7,020 

7.290 
5,130 

1893. 
8,316 

7,9S2 
6,750 
7,236 
5,886 
4,590 


Av. 

9o6i 
9,145 
8,824 
8,668; 
7,699 
7,330 
5.I301 

1888. 

109.7 
88.4 
100.8 
88 
73-1 
60.3 

°g  oo  'a?  tnoo'oo  o>  • 

1890. 

"77^8 
72.8 
70.3 
58.4 
62.3 
60.3 

1892. 

1893. 

51-3 
48.7 
40.7 
40 
33-4 
29 

Av. 

1888. 

IOI 

109 
104 
109 
"3 
98 

1889. 

1890. 

124 
129 
140 
128 
136 
139 

1892. 

126 
133 
142 
135 
124 
125 
127 

1893. 

162 
164 
166 
181 
176 
158 

Av. 

128 
131 
143 
133 
132 
127 
127 

65.8 
64.7 
62.7 
70.3 
56.5 
58.5 
40.5 

77-~5 

65'  i 
68.7 
61.3 
60 

40.5 

127 

121 

161 
no 

109 

"3 

Experiment  No.  5.      Corn,  Thickness  of  Planting. 

The  land  used  was  in  clover  in  1891  and  1892  and  was  treated  with 
barnyard  manure,  at  the  rate  of  about  30  loads  an  acre,  just  before  plow- 
ing. The  plowing  was  done  about  two  weeks  before  planting.  May 
24th,  twenty  rows,  each  220  ft.  in  length,  were  planted  with  the  vary- 
ing number  of  kernels  a  hill  and  at  the  distance  shown  in  the  table. 

In  general,  the  ratio  of  stalks  harvested  to  kernels  planted,  and  the 
ratio  of  ears  to  stalks,  increases  as  the  thickness  of  planting  decreases. 
The  noticeably  larger  yield  by  the  row  having  one  kernel  every  three 
inches,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  no  corn  was  planted  next  to  it  till  June 
1 7th.  This  gave  it  a  more  favorable  exposure.  Excepting  with  this 
row  the  number  of  kernels  a  hill,  from  one  to  four,  seemed  to  have 
little  influence  on  the  yield,  the  difference  being  due  to  the  number  of 
plants  on  a  given  area. 

The  yield  of  stover  is  greatest  for  the  thickest  rate  of  planting,  but 
the  bushels  of  corn  is  greater  for  thinner  rates.  Taking  the  average  for 


354 


BULLETIN  NO.   31 


[March, 


five  years,  there  seems  to  be  but  little  difference  between  planting  any- 
where from  1 1, 880  to  23,760  kernels  per  acre.  If  grown  chiefly  for  the 
grain,  the  fewer  the  ears  required  to  make  the  maximum  yield  the  less 
the  work  in  harvesting;  but  if  much  value  is  attached  to  the  stover,  the 
larger  amount  obtained  by  planting  thicker  might  more  than  pay  for 
the  extra  labor  required  to  harvest  the  grain.  If  stover  and  corn  are  to 
be  fed  together,  then  it  is  pretty  certainly  better  to  plant  thickly.  This 

RESULTS  WITH  CORN   FROM  PLANTINGS  AT  DIFFERENT   RATES  OF  THICKNESS,    1893. 


Kernels  in  a  hill. 

a 
o 
er 

S" 

I 

er 

Per  acre. 

Ratio  of  stalks  harvested  to 
kernels  planted. 

\<  *  \  100  stalks. 

r. 

L. 

Ears  harvested 

Bu.  per  acre  air-dry  corn. 

CD 

2- 
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Av. 

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47520 
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73 
87.4 
81.7 

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79-6 

88.5 
87.3 
75-2 
81.3 

46.4 
46.2 

53.5 

45-3 

24-4 
23.2 
23.1 

21  .2 

105.3 

84.1 
87 
97.7 

45.3 
16.7 

14.3 
17.5 

23.5 

27.6 
27.6 
32.5 
30.9 

58.9 
5L5 
5L9 
51-6 

6 

12 

18 

24 

47520 

23760 
23760 
23760 
23760 

34222 

18522 
17982 

17388 

10354 

8478 
8424 
9882 
8856 

6378.75 

4698 
4739 
5252 
5062 

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2241 
2241 
2646 
2511 

18 

25 
26 

27 
29 

18 

26 
27 
27 
28 

30 
46 

47 
52 

47.8 

68.8 
74 
70.4 
76.4 

22.9 

39-9 
4L5 
43.9 
43-6 

93.5 

90.9 
98.6 

103.3 

100.8 

53-5 

63.1 
65.8 

65.1 

66.6 

AT. 

i 

2 

3 

4 

9 

18 

27 
36 

12 

24 

36 

48 

23760 

15840 
15840 
15840 
15840 

18252 

10692 
12150 

8910 

6480 
9018 
8802 
9342 

4937-7 

3294 
4590 
4509 
4428 

2409.7 

2525 
3645 
3321 
3821 

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.77 
•  73 
•  75 

27 

38 
39 
37 

27 

39 

40 
38 
41 

49 

% 

76 
79 

83 

84.4 
76 
75.6 
81.7 

72.4 

78.7 
81.9 
78.8 
71.4 

42.2 

49.8 
50.2 
45-3 
45.7 

98.4 

87.2 

89.4 
82.5 

89.5 

29.6 

32.1 

46.3 
42.2 

48.5 

65.2 

66.4 
68.8 
64-9 
67.4 

Av 

i 

i. 
Av 
i 

2 

3 
4 

Av 

i 

2 

3 
4 

15840 

11880 
11880 
11880 
11880 

11583 

9936 
8856 
9936 
9936 

8410 

7884 
7452 
7398 
8424 

4205.2 

2673 

3483 
3780 

3328 

3537 
3051 

3915 

.732 

.84 
•75 
.84 
.84 

36 

30 
36 
38 

40 

45 
4i 

47 
48 

73 

79 
84 

85 

79-4 

81.7 
79-5 
76 
70.4 

77-7 

74-4 
81.5 
77-9 
80.6 

47-7 

60.7 
61.4 

57-1 
60.7 

87.1 

80 
76.1 
86.6 
86 

42.3 
44.9 

38.7 

44-6 
49-7 

66.9 

68.3 

67.4 

68.4 

69.5 

15 

30 
45 
60 

Av 
Av 
Av 
Av 

11880 

9504 
9504 
9504 
9504 

9504 

21701 
21701 
21701 
21701 

9666 

9866 
9126 
8478 
8154 

7789 

7344 
5832 
6588 
6048 

3263.7 

4320 
4064 
3875 
2957 

3503.2 

4172 

3875 
3024 

.817 

1.04 
.96 
.89 
.86 

•  937 

.82 

•  79 
.80 

.78 

34 

44 
45 
46 

36 
43 

29 
31 
33 
32 

45 

57 
53 
59 
50 

81 

74 
64 

78 
74 

76.9 

71.9 
61.7 

57-9 

78.6 

67.2 
69.6 
72.8 

59-9 

57-6 
54-9 
58.9 

82.2 

75-2 
72.3 
75-4 
72.3 

73-8 

87.7 
84  .  i 
87 
89.3 

44-5 

53 
39-6 
49-2 
38.4 

45.i 

39.4 
38 
42.1 
41.9 

68.4 

65 
59.6 
62.8 
55-3 

60.7 

64.1 

63.5 
63.8 

64 

8906 

16866 
16438 
16632 
16168 

6453 

9547 
7906 
8003 
8078 

3804 

4388 
446i 
4709 
4514 

3547.5 

3240 
2687 
2905 
2943 

55 

38 
35 
37 
37 

73 

62 

59 
60 
62 

63.8 

79-9 
78.4 
73-3 
77-5 

,69.8 

67.1 

70.6 
70.7 

68.4 

57-1 

46.5 
46.2 

45-7 
42.8 

FIELD  EXPERIMENTS   WITH  CORN,    1893. 


355 


experiment  would  indicate  that,  as  corn  is  ordinarily  planted,  there  is  less 
danger  of  getting  too  many  plants  than  of  getting  too  few.  One  chief 
reason  why  smaller  yields  are  obtained  from  corn  planted  thickly  is 
probably  because  many  small  ears  are  not  husked. 

Experiment  No.  6.      Corn,  Planting  in  Hills  or  Drills. 

The  land  used  consisted  of  seven  half  acre  plats.  It  was  plowed  in 
early  May  and  planted  May  I2th  to  i8th  with  Burr's  white  corn.  The 
corn  was  dropped  by  hand  and  covered  with  a  hoe.  The  west  half  of 
each  plat  was  planted  four  kernels  per  hill,  3  ft.  8  in.  apart  each  way, 
and  the  east  half,  one  kernel  every  1 1  in.,  in  rows  3  ft.  8  in.  apart.  The 
cultivation  was  the  same  on  both  parts,  each  being  cultivated  three  times, 
and  the  weeds  remaining  were  removed  with  a  hoe.  Sept.  6th  to  Oct. 
23d  the  corn  was  cut  and  shocked.  Oct.  cist  to  28th  the  corn  was 
husked  and  the  yield  ascertained.  The  stover  was  weighed  as  fed  dur- 
ing November,  December,  and  January.  The  accompanying  table  gives 
the  yield  per  acre  for  each  plat.  As  to  the  difference  in  the  yields  of 
corn,  two  plats  are  slightly  in  favor  of  drills  and  the  other  five  in  favor 
of  hills,  while  the  average  is  1.6  bushels  in  favor  of  hills.  The  average 
yield  of  stover  is  slightly  in  favor  of  drills. 

This  experiment,  like  No.  5,  both  for  this  and  previous  years,seems 
to  indicate  that  there  is  practically  no  difference  between  hills  and  drills, 
so  far  as  yields  are  concerned. 

RESULTS  WITH  CORN  PLANTED  IN  HILLS  AND  DRILLS,   1893. 


T3 
5T 

0 

Yield  per  acre. 
(75  Ib.  per  bu.) 

Yield  per  acre, 
Ib.  stover. 

Hills. 

Drills. 

Hills. 

Drills. 

i 

2 

3 
4 
5 
9 

10 

25.9 
19.7 
23.7 
28.6 

33.9 
43-2 
50.9 

22.1 
18.9 
19.7 
30.7 
34-4 
40.8 

48.3 

3104 
1640 
2240 
1808 

2120 
2408 
2I2O 

22O6 

3040 

1944 
1920 
1784 
2312 
2592 
2276 

Av. 

32.3 

30.7 

2267 

Experiment  No.  8.      Corn,  Frequency  of  Cultivation. 

The  land  used  for  experiments  No.  8,  9,  and  10  was  in  clover  dur- 
ing 1892,  and  was  plowed,  harrowed,  and  marked  during  the  latter  part 
of  May.  June  2d  it  was  planted  with  Burr's  white  corn,  four  kernels 
a  hill, the  hills  being  3  ft.  8  in.  apart  each  way.  The  tract  was  divided  into 
eleven  plats,  each  6  by  25  hills  in  area,  which  were  cultivated  as  follows: 
Plats  i  and  7  had  the  weeds  removed  by  scraping  the  surface  lightly 
with  a  hoe  and  without  other  disturbance  of  the  soil;  2  and  8  were  cul- 
tivated shallow,  ordinary;  3  and  9  deep,  ordinary;  4  and  10  shallow,  fre- 


356 


BULLETIN  NO.   31. 


\_March) 


quent;  5  and  11  deep,  frequent,  and  6  had  no  cultivation,  the  weeds 
being  allowed  to  grow.  The  shallow  cultivation  was  done  with  the 
"Tower"  and  the  deep  with  a  one-horse  double  shovel.  For  dates  and 
frequency  of  cultivation  see  table. 

The  number  of  ears  and  the  bushels  per  acre  are  given  in  the  table 
for  each  mode  of  cultivation.  In  both  shallow  and  deep  cultivation, 
ordinary  frequency  gave  better  results  than  did  very  frequent  cultivation. 

RESULTS  WITH  CORN  FROM  SHALLOW  AND  DEEP  CULTIVATED  PLATS,   1893. 


Kind  of  cultivation. 

Yield  per  acre. 

No  ears. 

Bu.  corn 

Av.  bu. 
forsyr. 

None   scraped  with  a  hos  (2  plats) 

8881.6 
9108.9 
8938.4 
8881.6 
7616.8 
None. 

28.7 

36.3 
33-6 

35-9 
30.6 
None. 

68.3 
70.3 
66.7 
72.8 
64.5 

Shallow    ordinary 

Deeo               "                              " 

Shallow,  frequent                                 

Deep,               "                              "          

None,  weeds  allowed  to  grow  

Frequent    (average  4  plats) 

8249.2 
9023.6 

33-2 
34-9 

68.6 
68.5 

Ordinary           "              " 

Shallow    (average  4  plats)  .  . 

8995  .  2 
8277.6 

36.1 
32.1 

7i.5 
65.6 

Deep               "              " 

CULTIVATION  OF  PLATS. 


Date,    1893. 

Plats  i  and  7. 

Plats  2  and  8. 

Plats  3  and  9. 

Plats  4  and  10. 

Plats  5  and  n. 

June  is 

Shallow  

Shallow 

17   .... 

*Deeo 

Deeo 

Shallow 

4-Deeo 

22 

Scraped 

Shallow 

Shallow 

Deep 

26 

Deep  . 

Shallow 

Deep 

29    .... 

Shallow  

Shallow 

Deep 

Tulv    ^ 

Deeo 

Shallow 

Deep 

"    ii 

Shallow 

Deeo 

Shallow 

Deep 

'  '     17 

Shallow 

Deep 

"2O         ... 

Scraped 

*Plat  No.  ii  only.     fPlat  No.  5  only. 

Experiment  No.  9.      Corn,  Depth  of  Cultivation. 

For  care  of  crop  see  report  on  Experiment  No.  S.  By  consulting 
the  table  in  the  same  report  it  will  be  seen  that  shallow  cultivation  gave 
four  bushels  per  acre  more  than  deep.  Contrary  to  results  in  former 
years,  scraping  the  surface  to  kill  the  weeds  failed  to  give  as  large  yields 
as  did  deep  cultivation.  No  cultivation,  allowing  the  weeds  to  grow  at  will, 
failed  to  produce  any  corn,  excepting  two  small  cobs,  having  one  kernel 
each.  Taking  the  average  of  live  years,  shallow  cultivation  produced 
5  9  bu.  per  acre  more  than  deep,  and  scraping  the  surface  2.7  bu.  more 
than  deep. 


1 894.] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893. 


357 


Experiment  NO..IO.      Corn,  Effect  of  Root-pruning. 

Every  other  row  of  6  rows  running  across  the  west  end  of 
the  1 1  plats  used  in  Experiments  No.  S  and  9  was  root-pruned  four 
inches  deep.  The  pruning  was  done  three  times — June  23d,  July  nth,  and 
24th — by  placing  a  frame  12  inches  square  on  the  outside,  over  each 
hill,  and  drawing  a  guaged  knife  around  the  edge  of  it.  When  husked, 
the  number  and  pounds  of  ears  for  each  row  of  each  plat  were  ascer- 
tained. The  table  gives  30  weights,  involving  15  comparisons.  In  12 
of  these,  the  unpruned  gave  larger  yields  than  the  pruned.  Taking  the 
total  yield  of  each  row  running  across  the  eleven  plats,  every  compari- 
son gives  the  largest  yield  for  the  unpruned,  and  the  sum  of  the  pruned 
and  unpruned  is  in  favor  of  unpruned  for  each  of  the  five  sets  of  two 
plats. 

The  average  yield  per  acre  is  7.2  bu.  greater  for  the  unpruned 
rows. 

These  experiments  and  similar  ones  in  previous  years  suggest  that 
shallow  culture  is  better  than  deep;  that  the  injury  to  the  roots,  which 
necessarily  results  from  deep  culture,  reduces  the  yield;  that  good  crops 
may  be  secured  in  this  soil  without  other  cultivation  than  scraping  the 
surface  to  destroy  weeds,  and  that  the  gain  from  unusually  frequent  cul- 
tivation usually  does  not  equal  the  extra  cost  of  such  cultivation. 

RESULTS  WITH  CORN  IN  PRUNED  AND  UNPRUNED  Rows,  1893. 


Row. 

Yield  of  ear  corn,  pounds. 

Plats 

i  &  7 

Plats 

2  &8 

Plats 
3&9 

Plats 
4  &  10 

Plats 
5  &  ii 

Sum  of  ten 
plats. 

Yield 
per 
acre 
bu. 

No. 
ears. 

Lb. 
ears. 

3 

4 
5 
6 

8 

Unpruned    .    .  . 

5.87 
5.87 
8.25 
6.25 
9-75 
6.37 

12 

8.25 
14-75 
8.75 
15 
11.75 

5-62 
6.87 
8.25 
8.87 
11.62 
9-25 

ii.  5 

10.12 
14-25 

9-37 

14.87 

9-25 

8.5 
7-5 
10.75 
7-75 
ii 
ii 

132 

121 

158 

118 
176 
M5 

43-5 
38.62 
56.25 

4i 
62.25 
47-62 

26.9 
23-9 
34-8 
25-4 
38.6 

29-5 

Pruned  

Unpruned  

Pruned  

Unpruned 

Pruned 

T      ,  (  Unpruned  
al  \  Pruned  

23-87 
18.49 

41-75 

28.75 

25.49 
24-99 

40.62 

28.74 

30.25 
26.25 

466 
384 

162 
127.24 

100.3 

78.8 

Experiment  No.   23.        Continuous    Corn    Cropping-    contrasted  with 

a  Rotation  of  Crops. 

For  eighteen  years  tests  have  been  made  of  the  yields  of  corn 
on  half  acre  plats.  On  three  of  these  corn  has  been  grown  contin- 
uously; on  one  it  has  alternated  with  oats;  and  on  six,  to  which  no 
manure  or  commercial  fertilizer  has  been  applied,  it  has  been  grown 
for  two  successive  years  in  a  six  years'  rotation.  On  one  of  the  plats 
continuously  in  corn,  barnyard  manure  has  been  applied  annually  at 


358 


BULLETIN  NO.   31, 


c" 

Stover, 
Ib. 

&a|<s!§ 

c 

Grain, 
bu. 

*ig  i  i  :5 

- 

1*   I*   bl 

a  ai^^^e 

i, 

Crop. 

o  ca^z.^,  o 
UOCJUOO 

~ 

Stover, 
Ib. 

8  :  :££§ 

z 

Grain, 
bu. 

C«  en  .  •«!•  . 

M*  6  •  -J-  •  N 
\O  »r>  •  »o  •  TT 

~ 

~ 

=H 

Crop. 

O  O  rt  rt  ^-i  O 

OUOOCJCJ 

13 

^ 

1  - 

r. 

Stover, 
Ib. 

in  .  •*  O  N  •*• 
^.  .  vo  en  »-t  m 
O  •  O  ^OO  en 

~B 

E 

c 

u 

6 

"- 

Grain, 
bu. 

.  •*  N  en  • 

•  VO  00  U-)  '•  •* 

5 

CH 

u 

'  -J 

CJ 

tj 

Crop. 

Z-i  O  O  «  i-  rt 

OCJUOOO 

nj 
"o 

u 

i 

a 

:^ 

Stover, 
Ib. 

mil! 

comm 

0' 

0 

2 

- 

Grain, 
bu. 

•  •  a  CTI  oo 

:  :sS  S5-81 

ure  or 

0 

i. 

Crop. 

>V  £  2  12  s 

i.  —  o  o  ca  ca 
'O  O  U  U  O  O 

o  man 

vd 

Stover. 
Ib. 

m  in  o  ^*vo  O 
^O  O  O  u"J  fO\O 

*S  S  t?  f?*N  5 

2 

| 

flj 

0 

2 

r- 

Grain, 
bu. 

.      .30    10  ID 

oo  •  •  envo  tx 

Tj-  •  •  rl-u->«n 

I 

~ 

-tti 

SH 

Crop. 

i2  ">  ">  e  P  ^2 

rt  ^,ZM  o  O  rt 

OUOUCJO 

| 

U^ 

Stover, 
Ib. 

>D  O  O  O  O  O 

^  5  o.  £  5 

N  OO  en  M  M  N 

s 

c 

d 
s, 

r: 

Grain, 
bu. 

0  .  .  .VO  M 
oo"  •  •  •  tv.  4- 

=- 

Crop. 

|>>>££ 

OUOUOCJ 

tn 
1| 

•4- 

Stovar, 
Ib. 

RKenSSg 

?,  D-  5?  S  ^"S 

eg 

S'fi 

'    C  " 

Z 

4-* 

bu. 

O^  rx  TJ-  ro  IX  o\ 

Tt-  en  u->  en  en  (S 

cT 

i 

Crop. 

C  tn  C  S  tn  C 
C  w  C  C  ««  y 

o  ca  o  o  rt  o 
UOUOOU 

n 

hri 

<D 
°.rt 

C 

Stover, 
Ib. 

ir»  .OOOO 
rx  -oo>o  CTjcg 

t?  •  N  N  M  « 

1 

0 

•_ 

Z:5 

<B 

T; 

£ 

Grain, 
bu. 

en  N  1^>O  M  VO 
^  5=$.^  S  5 

ra 

> 
'— 

^i'Ss 

<o  2  '-3  rt 
9-3  OiS 

c 

^ 

Stover, 
Ib. 

5-  :«g8ag, 

oo  •  o  •*  u-ii^ 
en  •  c*  N  w  M 

1 

5p! 

H 

i- 

Grain, 
bu. 

rj-  o»o  N  J^.  en 

bzis&s 

orn  a 

?o      ± 
ea  >-T)~ 

^3  <"  « 

Q 

Stover, 
Ib. 

€  :  sM  §^ 

s 

22^ 
«  S  ac 

A 

n; 

i  Grain, 
bu. 

•S  1^K33  tt 

1 

s 

SK  5^:>3| 

X  X  =C  30  2C  00 

the  rate  of  24  two-horse  wagon  loads  an 
acre ;  on  one  commercial  fertilizers  of  differ- 
ent kinds  have  been  applied ;  and  on  one  no 
fertilizing  material  of  any  kind  has  been 
applied.  The  corn  has  been  cut,  and  the 
stalks  removed  each  year.  The  table 
gives  the  yields  of  the  ten  plats  for  the 
last  six  years. 

In  general,  the  yields  from  the  plat 
manured  with  barnyard  manure  are  larger 
than  those  from  the  plats  in  rotation  with- 
out manuring;  but  the  yield  from  this 
plat  in  1893  was  much  smaller  than  that 
from  the  rotation  plats.  A  like  result 
was  recorded  in  the  exceptionally  dry 
year  of  1887.  The  yields  from  the  plat 
to  which  no  fertilizers  were  applied  have 
practically  equalled  those  from  that  to 
which  commercial  manures  have  been  ap- 
plied ;  but  they  fall  far  short  of  those  from 
the  rotation  plats,  and  somewhat  below 
those  from  the  plat  on  which  the  corn  was 
grown  in  rotation  with  oats. 

Experiment  No.  71.      Corn,  Effect  of 
Time  of  Harvesting. 

Experiments  to  test  the  effect  of  time 
of  harvesting  on  yield  of  both  corn  and 
stover  have  been  conducted  for  each  of 
five  years.  The  harvesting  has  usually 
been  done  at  three  stages  of  maturity,, 
the  early  cutting  being  when  the  grain 
was  mostly  in  the  roasting  ear  stage,  with 
husks  and  leaves  all  green;  the  medium 
cutting  when  the  kernels  were  mostly 
glazed  and  a  few  of  the  leaves  and  husks 
becoming  dry;  and  the  late  cutting  when 
the  corn  was  fully  ripe,  the  leaves  and 
husks  being  practically  all  dead. 

The  crop  has  always  been  shocked 
in  the  usual  manner  at  the  time  of  cutting 
and  allowed  to  remain  until  well  cured,, 
before  the  husking  and  weighing.  In 


t894.] 


FIELD   EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893. 


359 


addition  to  the  results  given  in  the  table,  for  several  years,  the  chemical 
composition  and  feeding  value  have  been  ascertained  and  will  be  given 
at  some  future  time. 

From  the  table  we  see  that  the  yield  of  grain  increases  with  late- 
ness of  harvesting  in  a  marked  degree,  the  average  yields  being  to  each 
other  as  65,  83.5,  and  100  forthe  early,  medium,  and  late  cuttings,  respec- 
tively. The  yield  of  stover  has  always  been  least  for  the  medium  cut- 
ting, and  in  three  out  of  four  cases  greatest  for  the  early  cutting,  the 
average  yields  being  to  each  other  as  100,  87.5,  and  97  for  the  three 
cuttings,  early,  medium,  and  late,  respectively. 

YIELD  PER  ACRE  FROM  CORN  CUT  AT  DIFFERENT  STAGES  OF  RIPENESS. 
Pounds  ear  corn  per  acre. 


1888 

1889 

1890 

1891 

i893 

Average. 

Cut  early  —  Corn  mostly  in  roasting  \ 
ear  stage,  husks  and  leaves  green,  f 

200  1 

3081 

3025 

2216 

2280 

2521 

Cut  medium—  Ears  mostly  glazed,  a  / 
few  husks  and  leaves  becoming  dry  \ 

350i 

3160 

4257 

2640 

2600 

3232 

Cut  late  —  Fully  ripe,  leaves  and  husks  \ 
usually  all  dry  \ 

4240 

3696 

4752 

3322 

336o 

3874 

Pounds  stover  per  acre. 


Cut  early  .  .    

4006 

361^ 

2485 

S24O 

S436 

Cut  medium  

34154 

3482 

2I3O 

2Q5O 

3004 

Cut  late  

4051 

3717 

2447 

3080 

3324 

Experiment  No.  89.      Corn,  Cross-fertilization. 

In  1893,  ten  of  the  most  promising  of  the  crosses  grown  in  1892 
were  planted  on  plats  of  considerable  size  and  at  such  a  distance  from 
each  other  as  to  prevent  much  pollen  being  carried  from  one  plat  to 
another.  There  was  some  diversity  in  elevation  and  drainage  and  prob- 
ably also  in  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  so  that  not  much  importance  was 
attached  to  the  comparative  yields.  Three  plats  from  self-fertilized 
ears  (ears  that  were  fertilized  with  pollen  from  the  stalks  on  which  they 
grew)  were  planted  adjacent  to  three  plats  of  the  same  size  and  from 
the  same  cross,  but  from  ears  cross-fertilized  (fertilized  with  pollen  from 
stalks  other  than  those  on  which  they  grew).  In  every  instance  the 
cross-fertilized  ear  produced  the  larger  yield,  and  the  stalks  were  visibly 
larger.  Naturally  the  corn  from  the  self-fertilized  ears  was  more  uni- 
form in  character  than  that  from  the  cross-fertilized  ones.  The  greater 
the  difference  of  the  parent  varieties  the  more  variable  was  the  product. 
It  is  thought  that  after  some  years  of  careful  selection,  after  crossing,  corn 
fairly  uniform  can  be  produced.  For  methods  of  crossing,  see  bulletin 
No.  25,  p.  199. 

Besides  the  above,  five  plats  were  planted,  each  from  a  different  cross- 
bred ear,  and  four  plats  each  from  the  first  year's  product  of  a  different 


36° 


BULLETIN  NO.   3! 


cross-bred  ear.  The  former  failed  to  produce  a  stand,  the  seed  having 
been  injured  by  weevils  and  the  plats  were  planted  later  with  Murdock. 
These  plats  were  planted  in  Experiment  No.  i. 

The  accompanying  table  gives  the  number  of  ears  and  bushels  an 
acre  for  the  four  plats  of  cross-bred  corn  as  compared  with  the  individual 
and  average  yield  of  the  parent  varieties.  The  first  named  variety  is,  in 
each  case,  the  female  parent.  In  three  out  of  the  four  cases  the  yield 
from  the  cross  is  greater  than  the  average  from  the  parent  varieties,  the 
average  increase  being  2.3  bu.  an  acre  in  favor  of  the  crosses.  In  1892 
five  crosses  gave  in  every  instance  a  larger  yield  than  the  average  of  the 
parent  varieties,  the  average  increase  being  9.5  bu.  an  acre.  It  seems 
that  cross-bred  corn  gives  larger  yields  at  least  for  the  first  and  second 
years  after  crossing  than  an  average  of  the  parent  varieties,  but  how 
long  this  greater  fruitfulness  will  last  is  undetermined. 

Farmers  can  produce  cross-bred  seed  in  considerable  quantities  in 
the  following  manner:  Plant  with  one  variety  in  one  planter  box  and 
another  variety  in  the  other.  Remove  the  tassels  of  one  variety  before 
they  begin  to  shed  pollen  and  the  shoots  of  the  same  will  be  fertilized 
with  pollen  from  the  other  variety,  thus  producing  a  direct  cross. 
The  seed  should  be  selected  from  the  rows  from  which  the  tassels  have 
been  removed. 


RESULTS  FROM  CROSS-BRED  CORN. 


Yield  p« 

:r  acre. 

Plat. 

Variety. 

No.  of 
ears. 

Bu.  air-dry 
corn. 

c 

Champion  white  pearl  

7680 

07     a 

13  &  115 

Burr's  white  

IO2OO 

38.6 

Average  

8040 

^8 

92 

Champion  white  pearl  —  Burr's  white  cross.  .  .  . 

7080 

28.4 

Learning  (average  4  plats)                .    . 

8070 

M6 

13  &  115 

Burr's  white.          

IO2OO 

38  6 

Average                               . 

QTO  = 

36  6 

94 

Learning  —  Burrs'  white  cross 

Q48o 

41    7 

58  &  98^ 

Kdmonds  

774O 

28.1 

Murdock  (average  4  plats) 

Q6oO 

•3  C      7 

867O 

32 

95 

Edmonds  —  Murdock  cross  

9840 

41.4 

58  &  98 

Edmonds  .... 

7740 

28    3 

13  &  115 

Burr's  white  

I02OO 

38.6 

Average  

8Q7O 

33  .  C 

99 

Edmonds  —  Burr's  white  cross  

Q36O 

37.8 

G.  E.  MORROW,  A.M.,  Agriculturist. 

F.  D.    GARDNER,  B.S.,  Assistant  Agriculturist. 


1894-]  FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  CORN,    1893.  361 


RATE  OF  GROWTH  AND  CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION  OF  THE 

CORN  PLANT. 

Experiment  No.  go.      Corn,  Rate  of  Growth. 

This  article  gives  a  record  of  observations  on  the  rate  of  growth  in 
height  and  weight  and  on  the  chemical  composition  of  the  corn  plant,  as 
well  as  on  the  rainfall  and  temperature  at  this  Station  during  four  seasons 
from  May  to  October. 

The  field  work  and  the  weather  observations  have  been  in  charge 
of  the  agricultural  department  of  the  Station.  The  writer  is  responsible 
for  the  chemical  analyses  in  1890,  1891,  and  1892,  and  the  writing  of  this 
report  from  the  observations  on  record.  The  work  has  already  been 
briefly  discussed  in  bulletins  Nos.  13,  20,  and  25  of  this  Station. 

It  is  quite  well  known  that  experienced  corn  growers  have  an  un- 
written knowledge  of  what  is  good  and  bad  corn  weather.  They  have 
learned  by  their  own  observations  through  a  number  of  years  the  climatic 
or  meteorological  conditions  that  are  favorable  or  unfavorable  to  grow- 
ing corn.  This  information  has  been  gained  without  measuring  a  single 
corn  plant  or  recording  the  amount  of  rain  and  heat  from  year  to  year. 
It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  the  remark  that  a  certain  shower  is  worth 
more  to  the  corn  than  two  inches  of  rain  at  a  given  time,  and  that  the  corn 
needs  two  days  of  soaking  rain  is  another  statement  that  may  be  frequently 
heard  sometimes.  But,  although  the  weather  of  the  future  seasons  can- 
not be  accurately  predicted,  it  is  of  interest  to  note  what  has  been  in  the 
past  the  relation  between  the  development  of  the  corn  plant  and  the 
weather.  This  has  been  done  by  actually  measuring  and  weighing  corn 
plants  every  week  of  their  growth  and  noting  the  rainfall  and  tempera- 
ture during  the  same  time.  A  record  of  such  observations  has  been 
made  at  this  Station  through  the  corn  growing  season  of  four  yearsr 
1889,  1890,  1891,  and  1892. 

PLAN  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT. 

Each  season,  when  the  corn  plants  were  about  ten  inches  high,, 
measuring  from  the  ground  to  the  tip  of  the  upstretched  leaves,  a  num- 
ber of  hills  of  nearly  uniform  size,  with  three  plants  in  each,  were  selec- 
ted and  numbered.  Each  week  through  the  season  the  height  of  these 
plants  was  measured  and  two  or  three  hills  (of  three  plants  each)  were 
cut  off  close  to  the  ground,  taken  to  the  laboratory  and  analyzed.  Thus 
a  weekly  record  was  obtained  of  the  increase  in  height  and  weight  of 
the  corn  plant  and  also  of  some  of  the  changes  in  composition.  The 
changes  in  weight  and  composition  of  the  plants  through  the  season 


362  BULLETIN  NO.  31.  [March, 

were  necessarily  obtained  from  different  plants  each  week.  They  could 
not  be  weighed  and  then  left  to  grow  again,  as  is  done  with  animals  in 
an  experiment.  The  only  thing  possible  was  to  begin  with  an  even  lot 
of  plants  and  assume  that  those  which  were  cut  and  analyzed  each  week 
were  a  fair  sample  of  the  whole  and  represented  the  general  growth  and 
development.  Measurements  of  the  height  from  the  ground  to  the 
tip  of  the  tallest  leaf  and  to  the  top  of  the  tassel,when  present, were  made 
of  each  plant.  The  number  measured  each  week  varied  from  6  to  225 
during  the  different  years.  The  weight  and  composition  per  plant  was 
obtained  by  analyzing  the  three  plants  in  one  hill  as  one  sample.  Ex- 
cepting the  first  year,  three  hills  of  three  plants  each,  making  three  sam- 
ples, were  cut  and  analyzed  every  week.  From  these  analyses,  including 
nine  plants,  the  average  composition  per  plant  was  calculated. 

Very  complete  meteorological  observations  have  been  made  daily 
at  this  Station  since  August,  1888.  They  are  taken  at  7  a.  m.,  2  p.  m. 
and  9  p.  m.,  and  include  the  maximum,  minimum,  and  mean  tempera- 
ture, height  of  barometer,  direction  and  force  of  the  wind,  weather,  as 
clear,  fair,  or  cloudy,  rainfall,  and  humidity.  Some  of  these  observa- 
tions, particularly  the  temperature  and  rainfall,  are  given  in  this  report 
for  the  purpose  of  comparing  these  meteorological  conditions  with  the 
rate  of  growth  of  the  corn  during  the  different  years. 

THE    SOIL. 

The  soil  in  which  the  corn  was  grown  is  the  uniform  black  prairie 
soil  of  the  University  farm,  tile  drained.  A  different  plat  was  used  each 
of  the  four  years  the  experiment  was  made. 

The  land  used  in  1889  had  produced  a  crop  of  corn  in  1888,  with  no 
manure;  corn  in  1887,  with  barnyard  manure;  and  clover  in  1886.  The 
plat  used  in  1890  had  produced  crops  of  oats  in  1888  and  1889.  The 
corn  of  1891  was  planted  on  land  which  had  raised  a  crop  of  corn  in 
1890,  wheat  in  1889,  and  clover  in  1888,  no  manure.  A  plat  of  grass 
land  which  had  produced  a  crop  of  hay  in  1891,  1890,  and  1889,  was 
used  for  this  experiment  in  1892. 

TIME  OF  PLANTING  AND  VARIETY  OF  CORN. 

May  4th,  1889,  Edmonds,  yellow  dent,  was  planted;  May^th, 
1890,  Burr's  white;  May  9th,  1891,  Learning;  June  3d,  1892,  Burr's 
white. 

The  influence  of  the  soil  and  the  variety  of  corn  on  the  variations  in 
the  rate  of  growth  during  these  four  years  cannot  be  exactly  measured. 
The  same  variety  of  corn  was  planted  in  the  two  years  1890  and  1892. 
The  varieties  planted  the  other  two  years  were  similar,  Edmonds  being 
somewhat  smaller  and  earlier. 

The  weekly  observations  giving  the  growth  in  height  and  weight, 
each  year  show  that  there  was  not  the  same  rate  of  growth  in  any  two 


1894-]  GROWTH  AND  COMPOSITION   OF  THE  CORN   PLANT.  363 

years,  but  quite  similar  in  some  years  and  very  different  in  others.  The 
greatest  variation  is  noticed  between  the  two  years  when  the  same  vari- 
ety of  corn  was  planted,  and  this  suggests  than  the  rain  and  heat  were 
more  influential  on  the  rate  of  growth,  than  the  difference  in  the  variety 
of  corn,  as  there  was  a  great  contrast  in  the  weather  of  these  tw<5  years, 
1890  and  1892. 

MEASUREMENTS  AND  ANALYSES  MADE  OF  THE  PLANTS. 

The  measurements  made  of  the  plants  included  the  height  of  each 
from  the  soil  to  the  tip  of  the  tallest  upstretched  leaf,  and  to  the  tip  of 
the  tassel  when  present.  The  analysis  included  the  determination  of  dry 
matter  only  in  1889.  In  1890,  1891,  and  1892,  each  of  the  three  samples 
of  corn  cut  weekly  was  analyzed  more  completely.  An  estimation  was 
made  of  the  dry  matter,  mineral  matter  or  ash,  protein  or  flesh-forming, 
nitrogenous  matter,  fiber,  nitrogen-free  extract  which  includes  the 
starch,  sugars,  gums,  etc.,  and  ether  extract  that  contains  the  fats  and 
oils.  In  addition  to  this,  an  estimation  of  water  was  made  in  the  corn 
plants  cut  in  1892. 

June  10,  1889,  fifteen  pairs  of  hills  were  selected  and  numbered  con- 
secutively. The  corn  in  one  pair  of  these  selected  hills,  was  measured 
and  cut  weekly,  and  the  amount  of  dry  matter  determined  in  each  of 
these  two  samples,  which  contained  three  plants  each. 

June  2,  1890,  sixty-three  hills,  as  nearly  alike  as  it  was  possible  to 
find,  were  selected.  They  were  numbered  and  divided  off  into  21  lots, 
of  three  hills  each.  One  lot  of  three  hills  was  measured  and  cut  as  in 
1889. 

June  12,  1891,  seventy-five  hills  were  divided  into  15  lots  of  five 
hills  each.  Four  of  these  hills  were  cut  every  week.  Chemical  anal- 
yses were  made  of  each  of  three  hills,  so  that  during  the  growing  season 
these  analyses  were  made  of  triplicate  samples  taken  each  week.  The 
fifth  hill  in  each  lot  was  left  to  grow,  and  was  measured  each  week  dur- 
ing the  season.  Each  plant  in  the  75  hills  was  measured  every  week 
until  it  was  cut,  making  a  total  of  3,159  measurements  that  year. 

The  spring  of  1892  was  very  wet,  hence  the  planting  of  corn  was 
about  one  month  late.  This  year  weekly  observations  were  made  of 
the  growth  of  the  corn  from  the  time  it  was  planted.  One  hundred 
plants,  drilled  about  18  inches  apart  in  a  row,  were  selected  for  measur- 
ing. They  were  not  cut  for  analysis.  The  same  analyses  as  in  previous 
years  were  made  weekly  of  three  hills  of  corn  in  this  same  plat  and 
very  near  to  the  plants  measured. 

DETAILS  RECORDED  IN  THE  TABLES  AND  CHARTS. 

The  tables  show  for  each  year  the  variety  of  corn  planted,  date  of 
planting,  number  of  plants  measured  each  week,  with  the  extremes  and 
average  height  per  plant;  the  weight  of  dry  matter  per  plant  each  week, 


364  BULLETIN  NO.  31.  \March^ 

RATE  OF  GROWTH  OF  FIELD  CORN,  AND  CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION. 

Edmonds  yellow  dent  corn,  planted  May  4,  1889. 


Week 
ending. 

Plants  measured. 

Height  of 
plants,  in. 

Pu 

1 

H 

13 
n> 

f  3 

P    CtT 

1 

» 
P 

5' 
P" 

5* 

Av.    daily 
temp.,  F. 

Percentage  composition 
of  dry  matter. 

Extremes. 

Average. 

i 

B 

Maximum. 

g 
5' 

3 

40° 

46 
52 
48 
52 
63 
50 
54 
49 
50 

49 
45 
47 
35 

v> 

cr 

Protein. 

Crude  fiber. 

CD  n 

*<§ 

Ether, 
extract. 

June     10 
17 
24 
July        i 

o 

15 

22 
29 

Aug.      5 

12 

19 

26 

Sept.      2 

9 
16 

6 
6 
6 
6 
.  6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 

6-9^ 

24-28 

37-44 
46  58 
69-87 
73-100 
95-109 
110-119 
102-117 
96-120 
106-124 
96-117 
106-114 
91-140 

7 
14 
27 

53 
78 
92 
103 
in 
no 
no 
in 
107 
108 
108 

(?) 
(*) 

.2 

.8 
3-4 
ii.  3 
25-1 
66. 
107.6 
136 
196.3 
227.2 

316.5 
302.1 
344-8 
392 

1.56 
2.44 
2.69 

'!o6 
2.31 

.78 
2.66 

.6 

1-3 

58° 
62 

67 

73 
75 
72 

68 
69 
67 

67 
70 
53 

77° 
78 
86 
88 
89 
90 
90 
88 
83 
84 
84 
89 
87 
88 

73 



Burr's  white  dent  corn,  planted  May  5,  i8go. 


June   2 

i^-i1} 

14 

7 

I  .  12 

68 

87 

42 

10 

j  *  j 
20—27 

T1 

23 

•  / 

2.8 

OS 

72 

/ 

88 

T 

ei 

17  4 

27  Q 

3  6 

17 

9 

32-43 

*j 

38 

.... 

10 

•  "  J 
2.41 

rm 

68 

84 

JA 

47 

A  /  **r 
14.4 

/  -  V 
24-5 

21.3 

36.4 

J  •  v 

3-4 

24 

9 

57-68 

6! 

.... 

32.3 

i-34 

74 

90 

62 

14-7 

17.7 

25.2 

40.1 

2-3 

July   i 

9 

73-92 

87 

58.1 

81 

96 

64 

14.9 

I5.8 

34-6 

33-3 

1-3 

8 

9 

90-105 

98 

'(*')' 

136 

.... 

72 

94 

45 

9-8 

II.4 

28.8 

49 

15 

9 

95-120 

III 

179 

2.04 

73 

97 

5° 

8.2 

II.4 

29-9 

49-2 

•  3 

22 

9 

104-123 

119 

.... 

229 

.... 

72 

94 

55 

7-9 

IO 

30 

51.2 

.2 

29 

9 

103-126 

H4 

.... 

289.6 

-79 

72 

97 

5i 

6-5 

8-5 

27.9 

56.2 

Aug.   5 

9 

100-130 

112 

.... 

298 

.07 

76 

96 

50 

6.4 

8.6 

28.3 

55-4 

•4 

12 

9 

89-124 

109 

293 

i.  08 

68 

92 

47 

6.6 

8.6 

24-5 

58.6 

.6 

19 

9 

96-112 

108 

w 

344-6 

-38 

68 

88 

45 

6-4 

7-3 

22.1 

62.1 

2.  I 

26 

9 

97-128 

117 

393 

•4 

63 

85 

39 

5-7 

7-5 

25-9 

58.8 

2.  I 

Sept.   2 

9 

99-126 

114 

"(<)' 

385 

•  31 

7i 

89 

46 

5-7 

7-i 

21.5 

63.8 

1-9 

9 

9 

105-122 

H3 

w 

421 

-5i 

59 

78 

33 

5-3 

7-3 

19.9 

64-9 

2-5 

16 

9 

94-120 

106 

(') 

344 

57 

78 

35 

5-8 

7.8 

22.6 

61.5 

2-3 

23 

9 

100-118 

114 

.... 

349 

-37 

54 

75 

33 

4-9 

7.5 

22.7 

62.6 

2-3 

30 

9 

99-123 

112 

442 

i-4 

60 

75 

46 

3-7 

6.7 

20.2 

66.8 

2.6 

FIELD  NOTES,    1889. 

(  a }     Tassels  showing.  (  e  )  Passed  milk. 

(b)  All  in  tassel,  bloom  and  silk.     (/)  All  glazed. 

(c)  Silks  dead.  (g)  Milk  to  ripe. 

(d)  Soft  milk  stage.  (A)  All  ripe. 


FIELD  NOTES,    1890. 

(a)  Full  tassel. 

(b)  Milk  stage. 

(c)  Dented,  husks  drying. 
(  d)  One-half  leaves  dry. 
(e)  Ripe. 


1894-.]  GROWTH  AND  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  CORN  PLANT.  365 

RATE  OF  GROWTH  OF  FIELD  CORN  AND  CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION — Continued. 

Learning  corn,  planted  May  q, 


a 

Height  of 

Av.    daily 

Percentage  composition 

1 

plants,  in. 

JTJ 

^3 

& 

temp.  F. 

of  dry  matter. 

Week 

c/r 

CD" 

£B 

P 
5' 

£ 

ending. 

P 

M 

X 

> 

D 

o 

(TO    £ 
3    (D 

£1 

P 

g 

^) 

O 
g 

i?z 

CD    .. 

en 

C 

3 

3 

J-t 

P 

oT 

Cfl 

P    2 

5' 

a 

X 

|' 

ET 
§' 

£ 

tr 

n 
O 
CD" 

CD 

CD    ^^« 

£   % 

CD 

cn 

• 

3 

.3 

B' 

1 

!? 

June    10 

225 

11-26 

16 

_ 

66 

90 

225 

23-43 



4.5 

.23 

70 

92 

49 

II.  2 

27.6 

23.3 

35.7 

2.2 

24 

213 

32-64 

47 

20 

1.02 

74 

92 

58    ii.  8 

24.1  25.4 

36.7 

•9 

July       i 

201 

50-84 

65 

.... 

30.4 

-33 

75 

93 

53 

ii  -5 

19.1  28.1 

39.4 

•9 

8 

189 

57-91 

73 

.... 

50 

.07 

69 

89 

47 

10.5 

19.1 

29.2 

39.5 

.6 

15 

177 

59-102 

84 

.... 

H4.3 

.38 

93 

45 

9 

15.7 

30.6 

42.8 

-9 

22 

165 

64-111 

96 

(a) 

161.6 

.13 

70 

93 

52 

7-9 

12.  I 

29.1 

49.3 

.6 

29 

153 

81-115 

98 

(&) 

161.2 

.83 

69 

93 

42 

7.1  11.3  28.1 

•  4 

Aug.       5 

82-116 

93 

(0 

215.1 

.01 

93 

6 

10.826.7 

54.6 

.8 

12 

129 

82-118 

98 

165.4 

i-35 

74 

99 

54 

6.9 

10.8 

28.6 

51    2 

•5 

19 

117 

82-118 

97 

(d) 

257 

1.28 

75 

96 

64 

6.2 

10.3 

27-5 

53-9 

2 

26 

i°5 

82-115 

97 

(e) 

295 

.22 

62 

83 

40 

5-7 

9-3 

24.7 

57-6 

2.6 

Sept.      2 

93 

81-114 

97 

(/) 

349-5 

-35!    63 

90 

41 

5-1 

8.5 

21.7 

6!  7 

2.9 

9      81 

81-114 

96 

... 

320 

64 

88 

8.9 

20.4 

62.8 

3 

16      69 

81-113 

93 

(g) 

290 

.... 

76 

95 

55 

5-2 

9-7 

19.7 

62.5 

2.8 

23 

324 

.06 

72 

96 

46 

4-4 

9 

18.6 

64-9 

3-1 

Burr's  white  corn,  planted  June  j,  1892. 


June  10 

IOO 

2 

3O 

66   82 

42 

| 

17 

IOO 

2-17 

II 

•  O^ 

.18 

T\  ' 

62 

T 
4O 

1 

24 

IOO 

7-24 

17 



1.7 

4.02 

I  O 

75 

84 

T 

37 

17-4 

26.3 

18.4 

35-9 



July   i 

99 

10-34 

24 

3-3 

.86 

68 

80 

49 

13-4 

24.4 

21.6 

34-5 

8 

98 

12-43 

33 

9-1 

1.32 

66 

84 

49 

14.1 

22.8 

25-3 

33-9 

3-7 

15 

97 

25-67 

5i 

.... 

20.8 

.09 

73 

9i 

52 

H.4 

2O.  I 

26.5 

38.3 

3-6 

22 

96 

36-90 

68 

.... 

49 

.82 

78 

94 

58 

8-5 

17-3 

28.3 

42.5 

3-4 

29 

94 

40-110 

86 

.... 

90.8 

.27 

77 

90 

5i 

7-3 

12.2 

28.8 

48 

3-7 

Aug.   5 

94 

50-119 

95 

to 

I4I-4 

1-93 

61 

82 

46 

6.6 

10.8 

29.8 

49.6 

3-2 

12 

94 

52-119 

99 

171 

•42 

74 

90 

61   6 

9-5 

29 

52-9 

2-5 

19 

94 

54-"9 

IOO 

.... 

221 

.... 

7i 

92 

5i 

5-9 

9-i 

27.7 

54-t 

2.4 

26 

93 

53-H9 

89 

.... 

274.7 

.08 

68 

96 

30 

6.6 

9-526.9 

54-8 

2.2 

Sept.   2 

92 

51-124 

86 

.... 

300.4 

-19 

72 

93 

54 

5-7 

7.923-8 

59-7 

2-7 

9 

92 

51-125 

88 

.... 

329.7 

•74 

62 

94 

56 

5-7 

8.7)22.9  60 

2.6 

16 



.... 

.... 

425.5 

74 

90 

53 

5-2 

8.2 

20.862.8 

2.9 

23 



.... 

.... 

417.5 

.... 

66 

90 

47 

4-9 

7.8 

19.364.9 

3 

30 



.... 

.... 

422.3 

.  •  .  . 

61 

73 

42 

4-7 

6-7 

21 

64.7 

2.8 

Oct.   7 

412 

16 

4.2 

8 

20.7  64 

3 

FIELD  NOTES,  1891. 

(a)  Full  tassel.  (e)     Denting. 

(b]  Silk  all  out.  (/)  Husks  turning  brown. 

(c)  Silk  dead.  (g)  -50  per  cent.  dead. 

(d]  Roasting  ear  stage. 


FIELD    NOTES,    1892. 

(a)     Full  tassel. 


366 


BULLETIN    NO.   3! 


\March, 


^ 


& 


O 


/// 


§  J.H9/7M 


'C7//M/  WJLH9/7H 


894-]  GROWTH   AND  COMPOSITION   OF  THE  CORN    PLANT.  367 


§ 


t 


. 


-e 


*! 


i 


368 


BULLETIN  NO.  31. 


\_March, 


RELATION  OF  TEMPERATURE  AND  RAINFALL  TO  INCREASE  IN  HEIGHT  AND  DRY  MATTER 

OF  THE  CORN  PLANT. 


1889. 

1890. 

Temp. 
F. 

Rain, 
in. 

Per  cent, 
of  total 
ht. 

Per  cent 
of  total 
wt. 

Temp. 
F. 

Rain, 
in. 

Per  cent. 
of  total 
ht. 

Per  cent, 
of  total 
wt. 

April, 
ist  week 

45° 

50° 

I  .  IO 

2d      "      

cc 

OS 

54 

i  .4 

3d      "      

«57 

,  54 

48 

4th     " 

C2 

O2 

C4 

i  61 

Sum      

61 

4.  II 

May. 
ist  week  

57 

5° 

•45 

ad      "     

66 

38 

54 

i  62 

3d      "      

66 

12 

56 

.27 

4th     "      

«:i 

5    O2 

68 

1.  12 

12 

Sum       .    . 

5C2 

•3    44 

12 

June, 
ist  week  

58 

i   56 

6  3 

72 

•  O«5 

7.  5 

o  6 

2d      " 

62 

2    44 

6    3 

O    2 

68 

2    41 

12    6 

I    7 

3d      " 

71 

2    60 

II    7 

O    ^ 

74 

I    34 

19   3 

52 

4th     "      ... 

6? 

12    6 

2 

8l 

21    8 

6   i 

Sum     

6  6q 

^6    Q 

2    7 

3.8 

6l    2 

13  6 

July, 
ist  week 

70 

06 

10  8 

3E 

72 

Q     2 

18  s 

2d      "       

7c 

2     21 

22    *» 

IO    4 

74 

2.O4 

IO    9 

IO    2 

3d      "     

72 

.78 

12    6 

IO    S 

73 

6.7 

12 

4th    "      

71 

2  66 

IO 

7    5 

72 

•  70 

14    5 

Sum     .. 

s  81 

fie     Q 

OT       Q 

2    8^ 

26  8 

c  c    2 

August, 
ist  week 

68 

72 

JC        ? 

76 

.07 

2 

2d      "      

69 

6 

8 

68 

I.  08 

3d      "     

67 

3    e 

68 

.38 

IO.9 

4th     "     

7i 

19    2 

63 

.4 

3.8 

Sum     

6 

72 

46 

I    93 

16   7 

September, 
ist  week  

67 

i  .3 

72 

.31 

2d      "      

7° 

7.2 

59 

.51 

14  .5 

3d      " 

ca 

12    2 

C7 

4th     -     

s6 

I    44 

c  c 

37 

Sum     

2-74    1 



19.4 

I.I9 

14.5 

iS94.] 


GROWTH   AND  COMPOSITION  OF  THE   CORN   PLANT. 


369 


RELATION  OF  TEMPERATURE  AND  RAINFALL  TO  INCREASE  IN  HEIGHT  AND  DRY  MATTER 
OF  THE  CORN  PLANT. — Continued. 


1891. 

1892. 

Temp. 
F. 

Rain, 
in. 

Per   cent 
of  total 
ht. 

Per   cent, 
of  total 
wt. 

Temp 
F. 

Rain, 
in. 

Per  cent 
of  total 
ht. 

Per  cent, 
of  total 
wt. 

April, 
ist  week 

36° 

I  c 

56° 

•3      II 

2d      "      

52 

1.87 

37 

.83 

3d      " 

63 

I    47 

47 

•  73 

4th     " 

•58 

1C 

52 

1.78 

Sum  

3.64 

6.45 

May. 
ist  week 

CI 

63 

I    34 

2d      " 

50 

46 

53 

1  .21 

3d      " 

62 

43 

55 

2.  19 

4th    " 

61 

12 

60 

•3    12 

Sum 

80 

12 

7  86 

June, 
ist  week  

66 

c 

7 

66 

.  3 

2 

ad      "     

71 

.23 

13 

i  .  i 

73 

.18 

8 

3d      " 

74 

I    O2 

17 

4    6 

75 

4    O2 

7 

4th     " 

75 

03 

IQ 

2    8 

68 

86 

7 

•3 

Sum  

2    08 

56 

8   5 

5.36 

24 

7 

July, 
ist  week 

6q 

7 

e    7 

67 

I    32 

I    4 

2d      "      .. 

71 

^8 

IO 

18  3 

73 

OQ 

18 

2    8 

3d      " 

71 

1  3 

1  1 

13    ^ 

78 

82 

17 

6.6 

4th     " 

69 

8l 

2 

77 

.27 

IQ 

IO 

Sum 

2O4 

02 

37    *? 

2    5 

63 

20  8 

August, 
ist  week   . 

72 

OI 

1C     e 

62 

I    90 

8 

ii  8 

2d      "     

74 

I     oc. 

74 

.42 

7 

3d      "     .'..-.. 

75 

I    28 

12 

71 

i 

ii.  8 

4th     "     

63 

22 

II 

69 

.08 

12  .  5 

Sum  .... 

2    86 

^8    c. 

2    43 

13 

43    I 

September, 
ist  week  

63 

35 

IS  •  "5 

72 

.  19 

6.1 

2d      " 

6s 

62 

74 

7 

3d      "      .... 

76 

74 

22  .  3 

4th    "     

72 

06 

66 

Sum  

i 

.41 

15-5 

•93 

35-4 

37° 


BULLETIN  NO.   31.  [March, 

COMPARISONS  OF  OBSERVATIONS  ON  TEMPERATURE. 


1889. 

1890. 

1891. 

1892. 

April. 
A  gradual  increase 
in    temperature    up 
to    the     last    week, 
which     was    cooler 
than    the    two    pre- 
vious weeks. 

Extremes,  25°-75° 

April. 
Average    tempera- 
ture,  higher  than  in 
1889.       The      third 
week,  the  coolest  in 
the  month. 

Extremes,  29°-8o° 

April. 
Unusually  cold  the 
first  week,  but  grew 
warmer  each   week. 
Third  week,  warmer 
than      usual      for 
April. 

Extremes,  22°-8i° 

April. 

Unusually  warm 
the  first    week    and 
cold  the  second  and 
third    weeks,     with 
an  average  tempera- 
ture in     the     last 
week. 
Extremes,  26°-7o° 

May. 
First  week,  average 
temperature;      sec- 
ond    and    third 
weeks,  above  aver- 
age;   last  week,   un- 
usually cold. 
Extremes,  28°-9i° 

May. 
First   week,    aver- 
age     temperature; 
second     and     third 
weeks,      cool;      last 
week,   warm. 

Extremes,  33°-87° 

May. 
First  week,   below 
average.     Some  hot 
days    in  last    three 
weeks,    with    about 
an  average  mean. 

Extremes,  24°-9i° 

May. 
First  week,  warm. 
The    remainder    of 
the      month     cold. 
Highest     in    last 
week,  80°. 

Extremes,  37°-94° 

June. 
The  whole  month 
a   little   cooler  than 
June    of   the  other 
three  years. 

Extremes,  4O°-88° 

June. 
First  week,  warm; 
second     and     third 
weeks,     about  aver- 
age      temperature; 
last  week,  hot,   tem- 
perature up  96°. 
Extremes,  470-g60 

June. 
The    weather    was 
warm,    but   not    ex- 
cessively so. 

Extremes,  49°-93° 

June. 
Second    week  was 
warmest,     and    the 
last  rather  cool. 

Extremes,  49°-94° 

July. 
Average    tempera- 
ture for  July,  warm- 
er in   second    than 
last  week. 

Extremes,  5O°-go° 

July. 
Temperature  reach- 
ed      97°      in     both 
second      and    third 
weeks. 

Extremes,  45°-97° 

July. 
Cool  first  week  and 
a    mean      tempera- 
ture, a  little  below 
average,    with  some 
hot  days. 
Extremes,  42°-93° 

July. 
Cool  the  first  week, 
very   hot  the    third 
and    fourth    weeks, 
with      an     average 
temperature  of  78°. 
Extremes,  46°-97° 

August. 
A  little  below   av- 
erage   temperature, 
except  last   week. 

Extremes,  5o0-8g0 

August. 
First  week  hot,  with 
average  of  76°.   Re- 
mainder     of     the 
month  about   aver- 
age temperature. 

Extremes,  39°-96° 

August. 
Very  hot  in  second 
and    third      weeks, 
but     cool    in      last 
week    to     a     mean 
temperature  of  62°. 

Extremes,  4o°-99° 

August. 
Mean  temperature 
a  little  below  aver- 
age  in    first    week, 
but    above     during 
remainder     of    the 
month. 
Extremes,  47°-94° 

September. 
First   week,    aver- 
age     temperature; 
second  week,  warm; 
last    two    weeks, 
cooler. 
Extremes,  32°-88° 

September. 
First  week,  warm; 
but    cooler    the  re- 
mainder    of   the 
month. 

Extremes,  33°-89° 

September. 
First    two    weeks, 
about  average    tem- 
perature;  the   third 
and    fourth    weeks, 
very  hot. 
Extremes,  4i°-96° 

September. 

Temperature     did 
not   go  to  either  ex- 
treme     throughout 
the  month. 

Extremes,  35°-73° 

1894*]  GROWTH   AND  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  CORN   PLANT.  371 

COMPARISON  OF  RAINFALL  AND  HUMIDITY. 


1889. 

1890. 

1891. 

1892. 

April. 
Clear  and  dry;  one- 
half    inch    rain    in 
third     week      only. 
*Humidity  decreas- 
ing   from      first    of 
month. 

April. 
Average  amount  of 
rain,    about  il/2  in. 
per      week,     except 
third  week  clear  and 
dry.     Humidity  de- 
creased. 

April. 
Average     amount 
rain,  but  nearly  all 
fell    in  two    middle 
weeks.        Humidity 
high. 

April.  . 
Very   wet,    especi- 
ally in  first  and  last 
weeks,    3     in.     first 
week    and      2      in. 
fourth    week.     Hu- 
midity high. 

May. 
No  rain  in  the  first 
three  weeks,  but   in 
fourth      week      the 
largest   rain  in  any 
one    week    of     this 
record. 

May. 
Average    amount 
rain.     The  greatest 
fall,  1.6  in.,   during 
Second  week.     Hu- 
midity   high      first 
week  and  decreased 
to  low  last  week. 

May. 
Very  dry,  less  than 
i    in.     rain    during 
the    month.       Low 
humidity  in  second 
week,      but     about 
average    in    other 
weeks. 

Ma^ 

Very  wet,  over  i 
in.  rain  every  week, 
with  2  and  3  in. 
during  last  two 
weeks.  Very  high 
humidity  second 
and  third  weeks. 

June. 
Very    wet     except 
last  week.    No  rain. 
High   humidity  sec- 
ond week  and  about 
average  the  rest   of 
the  month. 

June. 
No    rain    first  and 
fourth    weeks,     but 
considerable   in  the 
second     and     third 
weeks.       Very    low 
humidity      in     first 
week,    about    aver- 
age  the    remainder 
of  the  month. 

June. 
Rather    small   a- 
mount  of  rain,  about 
2    in.    quite   evenly 
distributed  through 
the  month.     Humi- 
dity       high        first 
week,     low   fourth, 
and  average  second 
and  third  weeks. 

June. 
Very      little     rain 
first     and      second 
weeks,    but  a  great 
deal        in        third, 
and  average  amount 
in    last.     Humidity 
high  first  week,  av- 
erage  through    the 
rest  of  the  month. 

July. 
No  rain  first  week, 
but    2  and  3  in.    in 
second    and    fourth 
weeks.        Humidity 
about    average    for 
some  years,   though 
not  high. 

July. 
No  rain  in  first  and 
third    weeks,    2    in. 
second,  i  in.  fourth 
week.      Rather   un- 
der the  average  hu- 
midity,    but     quite 
uniform  through  the 
whole  month. 

July. 
Almost  no  rain,  ex- 
cept   i    in.    during 
fourth    week.     Hu- 
midity low  in  second 
week,    but   high    in 
fourth  week. 

July. 

i%  in-  rain  in 
first  week,  and  i  in. 
in  third  week,  but 
dry  in  second  and 
fourth  weeks.  Hu- 
midity average  in 
first  and  fourth 
weeks,  high  in  sec- 
ond and  low  in 
third. 

August. 
Only    Yz     in.    rain 
during    the    month, 
in      second      week 
Average      humidity 
through    the    whole 
month. 

August. 
About.  2    in.    rain, 
mostly    in      second 
week  of  month.  Hu- 
midity   rather   low, 
except  the  last  week. 

August. 
About  2  in.  rain  in 
second     and     third 
weeks.    Humidity 
low    in     first     week 
and    high    in    third 
week,    with  average 
during    second  and 
fourth  weeks. 

August. 
Two  in.  rain   first 
week,  Yt   in.  second 
week,   and  none   in 
last  two  weeks.  Hu- 
midity above   aver- 
age    in      first    and 
fourth  weeks. 

September. 
One-half    in.    rain 
first    and    fourth 
weeks.    Second  and 
third     weeks     dry. 
Humidity  above  av- 
erage,  especially  in 
fourth   week. 

September. 
Nearly  Y*    in.  rain 
in    each,    first,   sec- 
ond,      and      fourth 
weeks,  but  none  in 
third.      Humidity 
about    average    for 
September. 

September. 
Less    than    ^    in. 
rain      during      the 
whole  month.     Hu- 
midity very  low. 

Septemher. 
Less  than     i     in. 
rain      during      first 
and    second  weeks, 
and  none    in    third 
and    fourth    weeks. 
Humidity    high    in 
second  and  average 
the    rest      of      the 
month. 

*Humidity  is  the  per  cent  of  moisture  in  the  air  when  rain  equals  100  per  cent. 


372  BULLETIN   NO.   31. 

together  with  the  chemical  composition  of  this  dry  matter.  This  shows 
the  amount  of  ash,  protein,  fiber,  nitrogen-free  extract,  and  ether  extract 
in  100  Ibs.  of  dry  matter  of  the  plant  each  week  of  its  growth.  The 
tables  also  show  the  inches  of  rainfall,  with  the  extremes  and  mean  tem- 
perature observed  every  week,  and  some  field  notes  made  of  stage 
of  growth  of  the  plant  at  various  times  in  the  season.  These  field 
notes  were  made  by  a  different  person  each  year,  which  fact  accounts  for 
the  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  number  and  wording  of  these  observa- 
tions. 

A  short  summary  of  the  weather  in  each  of  the  six  months  of  the 
four  seasons  isgiven  on  pp.  370-1.  This  affords  an  opportunity  of  com- 
paring the  temperature  and  rainfall  of  the  same  month  in  different  years 
and  of  the  different  months  of  each  year,  and  shows  when  sudden 
changes  of  temperature  or  rainfall  occurred,  the  weather  at  the  corre- 
sponding time  in  other  years,  and  what  influence  it  seemed  to  have  on 
the  corn  plant,  thus  supplying  evidence  for  judging  the  effect  on  corn 
growth  of  similar  meteorological  conditions  in  the  future. 

A  summary  of  both  weather  and  corn  growth  observations  is 
given  on  page  below.  Also  the  temperature  and  rainfall  for  April  as  well 
as  the  corn  growing  months,  the  per  cent  of  the  total  growth  in  height 
made  each  week,  and  the  percentage  of  increase  of  dry  matter  gained 
by  the  plant  every  week. 

SUMMARY  OF  WEATHER  AND  CORN  GROWTH. 
1889. 

The  month  of  April  was  cool  and  dry;  only  about  one-half  an  inch 
of  rain  fell.  The  corn  was  planted  the  first  week  in  May.  There  was 
no  rain,  and  about  average  temperature  in  May,  until  the  last  week,  when 
it  was  unusually  cool  and  5  in.  of  rain  fell.  This  was  the  largest  rain- 
fall in  any  one  week  of  this  four  years'  record.  It  so  checked  the  corn 
growth  that  although  seed  had  been  planted  four  weeks  the  plants  were 
only  about  7  inches  high  on  June  loth.  The  whole  month  of  June  was 
rather  cool  and  very  wet,  except  the  last  week.  During  June  the  plants 
reached  a  height  of  41  in.,  which  was  about  37  per  cent  of  their  total 
height.  At  this  time  they  contained  but  about  3  per  cent  of  their  total 
growth  in  dry  matter.  No  extremes  of  temperature  occurred  in  July, 
but  nearly  6  in.  of  rain  fell.  The  plants  grew  about  56  per  cent  of  their 
total  height  and  gained  32  per  cent  of  their  total  dry  weight.  The 
weather  in  August  was  rather  cool  and  dry,  with  only  one-half  an  inch 
of  rain.  The  corn  reached  its  total  growth  in  height  the  first  week  in 
August,  when  it  grew  7  per  cent  of  its  total  height.  The  increase  in 
weight  of  dry  matter  amounted  to  46  per  cent  of  its  total  dry  weight. 
September  had  about  the  average  temperature  and  rainfall  for  that 
month.  The  corn  plant  reached  its  greatest  weight  of  dry  matter  in  the 
third  week  of  September,  the  increase  being  during  the  month  19  per 
cent  of  its  total  weight  of  dry  matter. 


1894-]  GROWTH   AND  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  CORN    PLANT.  373 

Briefly  stated,  the  season  of  1889  was  cool  and  dry  before  planting, 
cold  and  wet  just  after  planting,  with  nearly  average  meteorological 
conditions  the  remainder  of  the  season.  The  corn  plant  reached  its 
greatest  height  the  first  week  in  August,  making  about  one-third  this 
growth  in  June  and  two-thirds  in  July.  It  continued  to  increase  in 
weight  of  dry  matter  until  the  last  week  in  September,  gaining  about  3 
per  cent  of  it  in  June,  32  per  cent  in  July,  46  per  cent  in  August,  and 
10  per  cent  the  first  week  in  September. 

• 

1890. 

The  rain  in  April  and  May  was  quite  evenly  distributed  through 
the  months.  The  temperature  was  warmer  than  in  1889.  Corn  was 
planted  the  first  week  in  May,  as  in  1889,  but  it  had  reached  a  height  of 
23  in.  June  loth,  while  in  1889  it  was  only  7  in.  tall  at  this  date.  The 
\veather  in  June,  1890,  was  hot  and  the  rainfall  nearly  4  in.  Corn  grew 
6 1  per  cent  of  its  total  height  and  gained  nearly  14  per  cent  of  its  dry 
weight,  as  compared  with  37  per  cent  and  3  per  cent,  respectively,  in  1 889, 
although  the  seed  had  been  in  the  ground  the  same  number  of  days  each  of 
the  two  years.  In  July  there  was  some  very  hot  weather  and  about  3  in.  of 
rain.  The  corn  plant  reached  its  maximum  height  the  third  week  in  July 
and  grew  about  27  per  cent  of  its  total  height  during  the  first  three  weeks 
of  this  month.  It  increased  each  week  in  dry  weight  10  to  18  per  cent, 
making  a  growth  of  about  55  per  cent  of  its  total  weight  of  dry  matter 
in  July.  August  and  September  were  hot  and  dry.  There  was  a  gain  of 
about  17  per  cent  of  dry  matter  in  the  corn  plant  in  August  and  15  per 
cent  in  September.  The  maximum  weight  of  dry  matter  was  reached 
the  second  week  in  September. 

1891. 

In  rainfall  and  temperature  during  the  corn  growing  season,  1891 
resembled  1890.  Corn  was  planted  May  9th.  The  temperature  was 
about  the  average  for  May,  but  less  than  i  in.  rain  fell  during  the 
month.  Through  June,  July,  and  August  rain  was  quite  evenly  dis- 
tributed, amounting  to  2  in.  each  in  June  and  July,  and  3  in.  in  August. 
No  extremes  in  temperature  were  observed  until  the  second  and  third 
weeks  of  August  when  99°  F.  was  recorded.  A  much  greater  number 
of  corn  plants  was  measured  each  week  in  this  season  than  any  other. 
The  plants  were  16  in.  tall  June  loth.  They  got  56  per  cent  of  their 
total  growth  in  height  in  June,  32  per  cent  in  July,  and  reached  their 
maximum  height  August  ist.  They  continued  to  grow  in  weight  of 
dry  matter  until  the  second  week  of  September.  When  the  corn  plant 
had  reached  its  maximum  growth  in  height,  it  had  attained  only  46  per 
cent  of  its  total  growth  in  dry  matter.  During  the  excessively  hot 
August,  with  about  3  in.  rain,  the  plants  gained  38.5  per  cent  of  their 
total  growth  in  dry  weight. 


374  BULLETIN  NO.  31. 

1892. 

The  months  of  April  and  May  were  excessively  wet.  Nearly  three- 
eighths  the  annual  rainfall,  141^  in.,  came  in  these  two  months.  June 
was  also  very  wet;  5^  in.  rain  fell.  This  caused  a  very  late  planting  of 
corn,  so  that  June  loth  plants  were  only  2  in.  tall,  while  in  1890  they 
were  23  in.  high  on  this  date.  In  June,  1892,  the  plants  grew  24  per 
cent  of  their  total  height,  while  in  June,  1890,  plants  of  the  same  vari- 
ety of  corn  made  a  growth  of  61  per  cent  of  their  total  height.  The 
temperature  and  rainfall  were  very  favorable  for  corn  growth  in  Julyr 
1892,  and  the  plants  gained  63  per  cent  of  their  total  growth  in  height, 
reaching  their  maximum  height  the  second  week  in  August,  which  was 
only  one  week  later  than  former  years,  although  there  was  a  difference 
of  four  weeks  in  the  date  of  planting  seed.  The  plants  also  reached 
their  maximum  growth  in  dry  weight  the  third  week  in  September,, 
which  was  no  later  than  in  1889,  and  only  one  week  later  than  in  1890; 
but  the  greater  part  of  this  growth  was  made  in  August  and  September, 
while  in  former  years  a  much  larger  proportion  of  the  growth  in  dry 
weight  was  made  in  July. 

GROWTH  AT  DIFFERENT  STAGES  OF  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  tables  give  data  by  which  the  growth  of  corn  and  the  weather 
conditions  for  any  week  in  the  season  can  be  compared  with  those  of  the 
corresponding  week  of  the  other  three  years.  The  plants  were  at  such 
different  stages  of  development,  especially  in  the  early  months  of  the 
seasons,  that  in  the  discussion  of  the  relation  between  weather  and  rate 
of  growth  of  the  corn  plant,  each  year  may  be  divided  into  two  parts: 
First,  before,  and  second,  after,  corn  is  one  foot  high.  Climate  and  soil 
conditions  have  a  great  influence  in  accelerating  or  retarding  the  sprout- 
ing and  start  of  corn.  Assuming  that  the  plants  are  on  an  equal  footing 
when  they  have  reached  a  certain  height,  we  can  trace  from  this  second 
point  the  influence  of  meteorological  conditions. 

The  corn  was  planted  the  first  week  in  May  in  1889,  1890,  189 ir 
but  not  until  June  3,  in  1892,  because  of  the  great  amount  of  rain  in 
both  April  and  May  of  that  year.  Between  the  date  of  planting  and 
the  time  when  the  corn  was  one  foot  high  there  elapsed  in  1 889, 6  weeks ; 
in  1890,  4  weeks;  in  1891,  31^  weeks;  and  in  1892,  two  weeks.  This 
shows  that  corn  may  reach  one  foot  in  height  from  2  to  6  weeks  after 
planting.  The  slow  growth  for  six  weeks  in  1889  was  evidently  caused 
by  the  extreme  dryness  in  April  and  three  weeks  in  May,  with  a  change 
to  the  greatest  rainfall  and  lowest  mean  temperature  recorded  during 
the  four  years  in  the  last  week  of  May  and  three  weeks  in  June.  Both 
extreme  drought  and  rain  retarded  the  starting  of  the  corn  this  year. 

In  1890  and  1891  corn  made  almost  exactly  the  same  start  each 
year.  About  the  average  amount  of  rain  fell  in  April  of  each  year  and 
in  May  of  1890,  but  May,  1891,  was  rather  dry,  though  apparently  not 
dry  enough  to  affect  the  corn  that  month.  About  the  average  mean 


iS94.] 


GROWTH   AND  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  CORN   PLANT. 


375 


temperature  was  also  observed  in  April  and  May  of  these  two  years. 
Corn  reached  one  foot  in  height  two  weeks  after  planting  in  1892.  The 
soil  had  been  previously  soaked  with  rain,  but  the  seed  and  young  plant 
had  a  much  higher  temperature  in  which  to  grow  than  had  been  the 
case  in  any  other  year,  and  there  was  very  little  rain  for  two  weeks 
after  planting.  These  seemed  to  be  ideal  conditions  for  the  sprouting 
and  early  growth  of  this  plant.  The  table  shows,  however,  that  when 
the  corn  was  one  foot  high  it  contained  less  than  0.5  per  cent  of  its  total 
growth  in  dry  matter,  although  it  had  attained  10  to  12  per  cent  of  its 
total  height. 

Beginning  when  the  plants  were  about  one  foot  high,  regardless  of 
the  date,  and  tracing  their  growth  in  both  height  and  weight,  each  week 
of  the  seasons  gives  the  following  figures: 

PERCENTAGE  OF  TOTAL  GROWTH  IN  HEIGHT  AND  IN  DRY  MATTER  IN  THE  CORN 
PLANT  MADE  EACH  WEEK  AFTER  THE  PLANT  WAS  12  INCHES  HIGH..  RAIN- 
FALL AND  MEAN  DAILY  TEMPERATURE  FOR  SAME  PERIODS. 


Week. 

i 

2    I    3    |    4    |    5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

ii 

12 

13 

14 

15 

Percentage  of  growth  in  height. 


1889  

T?  6 

ii  .7 

T?  6 

10.8 

22  .  5 

T?  6 

IO 

7  2 

1800 

12 

7  5 

12  6 

IQ  3 

21  8 

92 

IO  Q 

6  7 

1891  

12 

7 

13 

17 

IQ 

9 

IO 

II 

2 

1802 

IO 

7 

7 

q 

18 

17 

IQ 

8 

\ 

Average.  .  . 

ii.  6 

8-3 

ii.  3 

14 

20.3 

12 

12.7 

8.2 

Percentage  of  increase  in  dry  matter. 


1889  

1890  

.2 

:3 

2 

i  -7 

3-5 

C  2 

10.4 
6.  i 

10.5 

T8  5 

7-5 

IO  2 

15.3 
12 

8 
14  .  5 

3-5 
2 

19 
o 

0 
IO.9 

7.2 
3  8 

12.2 
O 

14.5 

1801 

T  T 

4  6 

2  8 

57 

18  3 

I  a  c 

o 

1C   C 

o 

12 

1  1 

IS  S 

o 

1802 

•3 

i  4 

2  8 

6  6 

IO 

ii  8 

ii  8 

12  5 

6  i 

7 

22  3 

1 

Average.  .  . 

.... 

.6 

2.1 

3  2 

6.2 

13-5 

10.3 

10 

II.  2 

4-3 

II 

7 

8.4 

8.6 

Rainfall,  inches. 


1889  

2.4 

2.7 

.06 

2-3 

.8 

2.7 

.6 

1-3 

i.4 

1890  

I.I 

.05 

2.4 

1.3 

.... 

2.04 

.8 

.07 

i.  08 

•4 

•4 

.3 

1891  

.... 

-5 

•  23 

I  .02 

•33 

.07 

•  4 

•  13 

.8 

.01 

1.35 

1.28 

.22 

•35 

1892  

•2 

4.02 

.86 

1-32 

.09 

.8 

•3 

1-9 

•4 

.... 

.08 

,  2 

•74 

.  .  .  . 

Mean  daily  temperature,   F. 


1889  

6?° 

71° 

67° 

73° 

75° 

7?° 

7T° 

68° 

69° 

67° 

71° 

67° 

70° 

53° 

5«° 

i8qo 

68 

72 

68 

74 

81 

72 

74 

72 

76 

68 

68 

63 

72 

SO 

1801  . 

66 

71 

74 

75 

6q 

71 

71 

6q 

72 

74 

75 

63 

63 

65 

76 

1892  

73 

75 

68 

67 

77 

78 

77 

62 

74 

71 

69 

72 

6? 

74 

66 

This  shows  that  there  was  quite   a  uniformity  in   the  proportional 
part  of  the  total  height  attained  each  week  during  the  years  1889,  1890,. 


376  BULLETIN    NO.    31. 

1891.  In  1892  a  greater  percentage  of  the  growth  was  made  later  in 
the  season  than  in  the  other  years. 

Comparing  the  growth  in-  height  in  three  years,  1889,  1890,  and 
1891,  with  the  rainfall  during  the  same  time  shows  that  in  the  second 
week  of  1889  corn  grew  4  per  cent  more  in  height  than  in  1890 
and  1891  and  that  there  was  2  in.  more  rain.  No  rain  fell  in  the  fourth 
week  of  1889  and  the  plants  were  6  and  8  per  cent  behind  those  of 
1890  and  1891,  which  had  over  one  inch  rain  that  week.  The  record  of 
the  eighth  week  shows  that  the  corn  of  1891  made  greater  growth,  but 
did  not  have  much  more  rain  than  in  the  other  two  years. 

The  table  also  shows  that  the  third  week  after  the  plants  were  one 
foot  high  in  both  1889  and  1891  there  was  about  the  same  growth  in 
height  and  amotmt  of  rainfall,  but  the  mean  temperature  for  this  week 
was  7  degrees  higher,  and  there  was  double  the  increase  of  dry  matter 
in  the  plants  in  1891  as  compared  with  1889.  In  the  fourth  week  the 
plants  grew  10  in.  more  in  height  in  1890  than  in  1892-  There  was 
about  the  same  rainfall,  but  the  mean  temperature  was  7  degrees  higher 
in  1890  than  in  1892.  Other  comparisons  also  show  that  the  higher  the 
temperature  the  better  the  corn  growth,  and  that  according  to  the 
observations  made  heat  seemed  to  be  more  beneficial  than  rain.  The 
most  rapid  growth  in  height  was  made  when  the  corn  was  between  3 
and  6  ft.  tall.  It  grew  2  ft.  per  week  for  two  weeks  in  succession  the 
last  of  June,  1890.  The  excessive  rain  of  April,  May,  and  June,  1892, 
prevented  the  same  growth  of  corn  as  in  the  previous  years  during 
these  months,  but  about  3  in.  in  height  per  day  was  made  in  the  last 
week  in  July,  1892.  The  table  shows  that  in  the  first  three  years  the 
corn  reached  its  maximum  height  eight  weeks  after  it  was  one  foot 
high,  but  in  1892  it  kept  on  increasing  in  height  for  ten  weeks  from 
this  time. 

No  uniform  relation  between  growth  of  plant  and  meteorological 
conditions  can  be  exactly  traced  from  these  figures,  which  cover  a 
period  of  four  years  of  observations.  One  important  reason  for  this  is 
the  fact  already  mentioned,  that,  unlike  animals,  plants  cannot  be 
weighed  each  week  and  then  allowed  to  grow  again.  All  these 
weights  were  necessarily  made  of  different  plants.  The  average  figures 
show  the  general  rate  of  growth  in  height  and  weight,  and  uniformly 
indicate  that  when  a  corn  plant  has  reached  its  total  growth  in  height 
it  has  attained  only  about  one-half  the  weight  of  dry  substance  it  will 
gain  if  left  to  grow  to  maturity. 

COMPOSITION  OF  GREEN  CORN   PLANT. 

The  per  cent  of  water  and  the  composition  of  the  fresh  samples  of 
corn  cut  weekly  were  determined  only  one  year,  but  analyses  were  made 
of  three  samples  taken  weekly  and  the  results  doubtless  represent  the 
average  composition  of  plants  which  are  of  the  heights  given,  although 
they  may  attain  these  heights  at  different  times  in  the  different  years. 


i894.] 


GROWTH  AND  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  CORN   PLANT. 


377 


This  table  is  given  especially  to  show  the  per  cent  of  water  in  the 
plant  from  week  to  week.  This  changes  from  90  to  55  from  begin- 
ning to  the  end  of  the  season,  but,  as  before  stated,  it  represents  the 
general  composition  of  corn  plants  of  these  heights  rather  than  at  the 
dates  mentioned,  because  this  particular  season  was  about  one  month 
later  in  the  spring. 

ANALYSES  OF  GREEN  CORN  PLANTS. 


Average. 

Chemical  composition  —  percentages. 

Date  when  cut. 

Height, 

Wei«h'.    Water. 

Ash. 

Protein. 

Fiber 

Starch, 

Ether 

n. 

oz. 

etc. 

extract. 

June  10 

2 

81.6 

"    T7 

12 

85 

"    24 

23 

•7 

89.95 

.84 

2.78 

i-93 

3-73 

-54 

July     i 

28 

i.i 

88.86 

.48 

2  .69 

2.37 

3-9 

.69 

8 

35 

3-2 

89.94 

•44 

2.3 

2-55 

3-39 

•37 

"     15 

48 

8.2 

91.64 

•94 

.68 

2.2 

3.24 

•  29 

"       22 

67 

12.  I 

86.82 

.  12 

.29 

3-76 

5-55 

•4.6 

"       29 

95 

24.7 

87.31 

•93 

•54 

3-66 

6.09 

•46 

Aug.    5 

IOO 

29.4 

82.76 

.13 

•85 

5-14 

8.55 

•56 

12 

103 

35-3 

82.72 

.04 

.64 

5 

9.15 

•43 

11       19 

in 

41 

80.78 

•  13 

.73 

5-34 

10.54 

.46 

"      26 

1  08 

44 

78.41 

•41 

2.04 

5-78 

11.87 

•47 

Sept.  2 

in 

39-3 

73-32 

•  52 

2.12 

6.38 

15.92 

•  73 

"      9 

107 

4i 

71.65 

.63 

2.48 

6-49 

17.01 

•73 

"    16 

108 

47 

57-68 

.68 

2.64 

6-73 

20.32 

•93 

"    23 

105 

4i 

63.72 

•77 

2.8l 

7 

23-57 

i.  n 

'    30 

no 

37 

59.96 

.88 

2.7 

8.37 

25-93 

?•*$ 

Oct.    7 

107 

33 

56.02 

.85 

3-51 

9.i 

28.17 

i-34 

This  table  shows  that  the  plants  reached  their  total  growth  in 
height  August  i9th.  There  was  an  increase  in  the  weight  of  water  in 
the  plant  every  week  up  to  August  26th,  when  it  reached  its  maximum, 
and  then  gradually  decreased  as  the  plant  dried.  The  growth  of  the 
plant  did  not  cease,  however,  at  the  time  it  stopped  growing  in  height, 
or  when  it  had  accumulated  the  greatest  weight  of  water.  The  gain  of 
dry  matter  continued  every  week  up  to  September  i6th,  four  weeks 
after  reaching  its  greatest  height.  The  weight  of  dry  matter  in  the 
plant  after  September  i6th  remained  about  the  same  up  to  October  yth. 
The  slight  difference  is  probably  caused  by  loss  of  dried  portions  of  the 
plant  which  may  have  been  blown  away  by  the  wind. 

The  increase  in  weight  of  the  ash,  protein,  etc.,  of  the  plant  all  fol- 
lowed the  same  course  of  the  dry  matter.  They  increased  in  amount 
up  to  the  last  of  September.  When  the  plant  had  reached  its  greatest 
height,  9  ft.  3  in.,  it  contained  33  oz.  water  and  7.8  oz.  dry  matter.  This 
dry  matter  contained  about  ^  oz.  ash,  y±  oz.  protein,  2^  bz.  fiber,  41^ 
oz.  nitrogen-free  extract,  and  1-5  oz.  ether  extract.  After  this  time  the 
plant  continued  to  grow  in  weight  until  its  maximum  weight  of  dry 
matter  was  15  oz.,  containing  ash,  i  oz.;  protein,  1 1^  oz.;  fiber,  3  oz.; 
nitrogen-free  extract,  9*^  oz.;  and  ether  extract,  y±  oz. 


378  BULLETIN  NO.  31.  [March, 

The  analysis  of  the  fresh  samples  shows  that  a  given  quantity  ( 100 
Ib.)  of  young  corn  plants  2  ft.  high  contained  as  much  protein  and  ash 
as  the  same  quantity  of  fully  mature  corn,  although  the  young  corn  plant 
has  90  and  the  ripe  plant  only  60  per  cent  of  water.  This  does  not  hold 
true  of  the  other  constituents,  however.  The  fiber,  starch,  etc.,  in  100 
Ib.  of  the  ripe  plant  is  nearly  10  times  that  in  the  young  corn.  The  re- 
lation between  the  nitrogenous  (protein)  and  carbonaceous  (fiber,  starch, 
etc.)  constituents  is  as  i  to  3  in  the  young  plant  and  as  i  to  13  in  the 
ripe  corn  plant  in  September  and  October. 

100  Ib.  corn  2  ft.  high  contained  i.Slb.  ash,  2.8  Ib.  nitrogenous  mat- 
ter, 6.2  Ib.  carbonaceous,  and  89.2  Ib.  water. 

100  Ib.  ripe  corn  9  ft.  high  contained  1.8  Ib.  ash,  2.8  Ib.  nitrogenous 
matter,  35.4  Ib.  carbonaceous,  and  60  Ib.  water. 

LENGTH  OF  THE  GROWING  SEASON. 

The  five  months  from  May  to  September,  inclusive,  comprise  the 
corn  growing  season.  Some  changes  probably  occur  in  the  plant  after 
September  in  certain  seasons,  but  as  a  rule,  corn  gets  its  growth  by  the 
first  of  October.  The  temperature  and  rainfall  in  April  have  consider- 
able influence  on  the  time  of  planting  corn  in  the  spring,  hence  the  con- 
sideration of  the  April  weather  is  important  when  comparisons  are  made 
of  the  corn  growth  in  different  years. 

In  1889,  1890,  and  1891  it  was  four  and  one-half  months  from  the 
time  the  corn  was  planted  until  the  plant  had  reached  its  maximum 
weight  of  dry  substance.  The  heavy  rains  in  April  and  May  of  1892 
made  the  corn  growing  season  of  that  year  one  month  shorter  than  in 
the  three  previous  years.  The  plants  attained  their  weight  of  dry  mat- 
ter by  the  middle  of  September,  as  in  the  previous  years.  A  compari- 
son of  the  different  years  shows  that  corn  was  planted,  reached  its  max- 
imum height  and  gross  weight  of  dry  substance  per  plant  at  the  fol- 
lowing dates: 

1889.  1890.  1891.  1892. 

Planted.  .  .    May  4.  May  5.  May  9.  June  3. 

Tallest Aug.  5-111  in  July  22-119  in  July  28-98  in.  Aug.  19-100  in. 

Heaviest..    Sept.  16-13.8  oz.  Sept.  9-14.8  oz.  Sept.  2-12.3  oz.  Sept.  16-14.8  oz. 

Analyses  of  the  corn  plants  were  made  up  to  the  first  week  in 
October,  but,  from  loss  of  leaves  which  dried  and  broke  off,  there  was 
not  so  much  dry  matter  in  the  plants  as  was  found  about  the  middle  of 
September.  There  may  be  changes  going  on  in  the  plant  after  this 
date,  but  during  these  four  years  no  further  increase  in  weight  was 
observed. 

COMPOSITION  OF    THE    DRY    MATTER    OF    THE    CORN    PLANT. 

The  average  maximum  weight  of  dry  matter  per  corn  plant  and 
dates  when  this  was  reached  each  year  were  as  follows,  1889,  14  oz., 


i894.] 


GROWTH   AND  COMPOSITION  OF   THE  CORN   PLANT. 


379 


third  week  in  September;  1890,  15  oz.,  second  week  in  September; 
1891,  12.5  oz.,  first  week  in  September;  1892,  15  oz.,  third  week  in 
September;  average  14  oz. 

The  composition  of  this  dry  matter  as  found  by  analyses  made   in 
the  three  years  1890,  1891,  and  1892  was  as  follows: 

COMPOSITION  OF  MAXIMUM  WEIGHT  OF  DRY  MATTER,  PERCENTAGES. 


Ash. 

Protein. 

Fiber. 

Nitrogen- 
free 
extract. 

Ether 
extract. 

1800 

C     7 

7  3 

IQ  q 

64    Q 

1801 

S    I 

8.5 

21    7 

6l    7 

2    Q 

1802    . 

5  .2 

8.2 

20.  8 

62  8 

2    Q 

Average  

5-2 

8 

20.8 

63.2 

2.8 

Assuming  that  there  are  10,000  plants  per  acre,  these  analyses  show 
that  an  acre  of  such  corn,  grown  to  maturity  would  contain  about  8,750 
Ib.  dry  substance,  composed  of  455  Ib.  ash,  700  Ib.  protein  and  7,595 
Ib.  carbohydrates,  including  fiber,  starch,  sugar,  etc. 

When  the  plants  were  about  18  in.  high,  their  water  free  substance 
contained  about  17  percent  mineral  matter,  27  per  cent  protein,  35  per 
cent  nitrogen-free  extract,  and  20  per  cent  fiber.  As  the  plant  matured 
the  percentages  of  ash  and  protein  decreased,  and  the  fiber,  starch,  sugar, 
gums,  etc.,  increased.  This  change  was  most  marked  from  the  time 
when  plants  were  a  foot  high  until  they  reached  the  roasting  ear 
stage,  when  the  water  free  substance  of  the  plant  contained  about  6  per 
cent  mineral  matter,  9  per  cent  protein,  58  per  cent  nitrogen-free  extract, 
and  25  per  cent  fiber.  After  this  time  there  was  not  so  great  a  change 
in  the  proportion  of  these  constituents. 

The  analyses  of  the  corn  plants  through  the  three  years  show  the 
same  kind  of  a  change  each  year  in  the  composition  of  the  dry  matter 
of  the  plant  at  the  same  stage  of  its  growth.  All  the  analyses  were 
made  of  the  whole  corn  plant.  No  attempt  was  made  to  separate 
the  ear,  stalk  and  leaves,  but  the  whole  plant  was  chopped  fine  and  the 
mixture  analyzed. 

COMPOSITION  OF  DIFFERENT  PARTS  OF  THE  CORN  PLANT — PERCENTAGES. 


Water. 

Ash. 

Protein. 

Fiber. 

Nitrog'n 
free 
extract. 

Ether 
extract. 

Ears  fresh 

42    8l 

QQ 

3      Cl 

C     1C 

45    I 

2    44 

Water-free       .    . 

I    74 

6.13 

9.01 

78  86 

4    26 

Stalks  fresh  

74-4S 

.84 

.62 

8.84 

14  82 

42 

Water-free 

a    27 

2    41 

34    62 

eg  03 

I    67 

Leaves  and  husks  fresh  .... 
Water-free   ...              

57-89 

4-4 
10.45 

1-93 
4  •  5Q 

12.47 
2Q    62 

22.24 

52    8 

1.07 
2    54 

38o 


BULLETIN   NO.   31, 


[March* 


The  composition  of  the  different  parts  of  the  plant,  when  the  husks 
were  dry  and  the  kernels  could  be  indented  by  the  thumb  nail  with  dif- 
ficulty, is  shown  by  the  foregoing  figures  taken  from  Bulletin  No.  4, 
p.  91  of  this  Station — variety,  Burr's  white. 

Loss  OF  DRY  MATTER  BY  SPROUTING  OF  CORN  SEEDS. 

When  seeds  sprout,  a  certain  amount  of  their  own  substance  is 
necessarily  used  to  sustain  the  developing  life  until  the  plant  can  assimi- 
late from  other  sources  the  necessary  material  for  growth. 

The  following  experiment  was  made  to  trace  the  gain  and  loss  of 
material  that  occurred  in  the  first  stages  of  development  of  the  corn 
plant. 

April,  1892,  the  amount  of  water  and  dry  matter  was  determined 
in  a  sample  of  seed  corn.  These  results  were  used  for  estimating  the 
weight  of  water  and  dry  matter  in  the  kernels  which  were  taken  from 
the  same  sample  and  sprouted.  The  first  trial  was  made  by  placing  six 
kernels  in  damp  cotton  where  they  were  left  to  sprout  in  the  dark  for 
nine  days.  Four  of  these  kernels  partly  sprouted,  then  moulded,  failing 
to  develop  further.  An  analysis  showed  that  they  lost  in  this  partial 
sprouting  process  9  to  18  per  cent  of  the  dry  matter  in  the  original  seed. 
Each  one  of  the  four  was  analyzed  separately,  and  the  adhering  shell  of 
the  kernel  was  included  in  the  estimated  dry  matter. 

Two  of  the  six  kernels  sprouted  and  developed  a  corn  plant.  The 
root  and  stem  of  these  plants  each  measured  two  to  three  inches,  and 
their  weight  was  from  three  to  three  and  one-half  times  that  of  the  original 
kernel.  It  was  found,  however,  that  when  the  water  was  dried  out  of 
these  young  plants  the  dry  matter  in  them  was  20  to  31  per  cent  less 
than  the  seed  contained. 

DETAILS  OF  WEIGHTS  IN  GRAMS. 


Weight  of  seed  before  sprouting  

Dry  matter. 

Water. 

Total. 

o 

271 
187 

o 
o 

042 

747 

0.313 
0.934 

Plant  with  seed  attached  after  9  days  sprout- 
ing in  damp  cotton 

Gain  or  loss  of  plant  over  seed  

—  o 

—3i 
—19 

084 
80 

+o 

705 

+0.621 
+  198 
4-239 

Per  cent  gain  and  loss  was  of  weight  in  seed 
Duplicate  Irial  gave 

This  shows  that  in  sprouting  the  white  plant  had  taken  up  a  large 
amount  of  water  but  lost  about  one-fourth  of  the  dry  matter  in  the  seed. 

This  experiment  was  repeated  June  3,  1892,  by  sprouting  the  seed 
in  the  soil  of  a  corn  field  instead  of  in  cotton.  Each  kernel  planted  was 
weighed  and  the  young  plants  dug  up,  weighed,  and  measured.  The 
details  of  these  weights  are  given  in  the  table. 


1894-]  GROWTH   AND  COMPOSITION  OF   THE   CORN    PLANT.  381 

COMPARISON  OF  DRY  MATTER  IN  SEED  AND  IN  YOUNG  PLANT. 


- 

1 

z 

p 

Weight  in  grams. 

Measurement 
of  plant,  in. 

Dry  matter. 

Seed. 

Green 
Plant. 

-  H 

tn   o 
1 

II 

1 

In 
plant, 
grams. 

Per  cent 
of  that 
in  seed. 

Dry 
matter. 

Total. 

Plant  and  root,  one  week  from  planting. 


I  I  .416 

•479 

1.64 

4 

2 

5 

•  331 

79 

2    i  -357 

.412 

1.45 

4X2 

2 

5 

.210 

59 

3     -347 

•450 

i-55 

& 

2 

4 

•273 

78 

4      -393 

•457 

i-45 

& 

3K 

4 

.310 

78 

Plant  above  ground,  two  weeks  from  planting. 


s          .378 

•  437 

3.23 

14 

•493 

130.4 

6             .346 

.  ^ 

1  .79 

gy2 

.3 

86.7 

•*                 »JT" 

7-3QC 

4S6 

2    47 

n'A 

43C 

IIO    I 

8              404 

466 

2    6l 

ii 

348 

86.1 

9             -424 

•49 

3-54 

12 

•437 

103 

Plant  above  ground,  three  weeks  from  planting. 


IO 

^48 

402 

16  6 

2I>£ 

1.82 

^24.6 

II 

•4'3 

•477 

18.6         i 

20^ 

2.04 

4£5'4 

One  week  after  planting  the  plants  were  dug  up.  They  were  from 
one  to  four  inches  above  ground  and  each  had  two  green  leaves.  The 
shell  of  the  kernel  still  clung  to  the  plant.  The  root  was  about  5  in. 
long,  making  a  total  length  of  about  10  in.  from  tip  of  leaf  to  end  of 
root.  The  weight  of  these  green  plants  (leaf  and  root)  was  about  four 
times  that  of  the  seed  planted,  but  when  the  water  was  dried  out  they 
contained  less  dry  matter  than  the  seed,  from  58  to  79  per  cent  only  of 
that  in  the  original  seed. 

Two  weeks  after  the  seed  was  planted,  five  plants  were  cut  at  the 
surface  of  the  soil  and  the  weights  and  measurements  of  each  plant 
above  ground  were  compared  with  the  weight  of  its  seed. 

The  table  shows  that  these  corn  plants,  having  a  height  of  10  to  14 
in.  above  ground,  weighed  when  fresh  4  to  8  times  as  much  as  their 
seed,  but  that  this  increase  of  weight  came  almost  entirely  from  the 
water  absorbed.  The  dry  matter  in  some  of  these  plants  was  less  than 
that  in  the  kernels  planted. 

The  table  also  shows  that  a  plant  20  inches  high  weighed  over 
forty  times  as  much  as  the  seed  but  contained  only  about  five  times  as 
much  dry  matter. 

E.  H.  FARRINGTON,  M.  S.,  Chemist. 


BULLETIN    NO.    31 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,  1893. 

This  article  reports  results  of  the  following  experiments  with  oats 
conducted  in  1893: 

No.  12.     Oats,  quantity  of  seed  per  acre. 

No.  14.     Oats,  time  of  sowing. 

No.  15.     Oats,  depth  of  sowing. 

No.  128.  Oats,  effect  of  time  and  manner  of  harvesting  upon  yield 
and  chemical  composition. 

SUMMARY. 

The  trials  were  all  made  on  the  fertile,  dark  colored  prairie  soil  of 
the  Station  grounds.  The  rainfall  during  April  and  May  was  large;  in 
June,  unusually  small.  For  July  the  rainfall  was  .59  inches  and  the 
average  temperature  74 .6 Q  F. 

RAINFALL  AND  TEMPERATURE. 


18 

89. 

18 

?o. 

i8( 

?i- 

i8< 

?2- 

18 

33- 

B 

M 

5" 

5' 

Temper- 
ature. 

g 

F 

5* 

1$ 

c  3 

n  >T3 
CD    o> 
n 

£ 

D 

5' 

»tf 

c  3 

(3  1? 
•i 

X) 
OB 

B" 

3* 

it'S 

c  3 
•31 

H 
g 

5" 
a 

i-j 
P  a 

c  3 
?| 

April 

o  61 

52° 

4.  II 

52   3° 

3    54 

52  8° 

6  45 

48  6° 

7  68 

49   3° 

May 

c  .  c;2 

SQ    2 

3  56 

58.3 

o.8q 

58  4 

7.86 

S7   Q 

4    8^ 

C7    4 

Tune 

6.81 

6<5   5 

3  8 

74  6 

2.08 

72 

5.36 

7O   6 

I    SS 

70  s 

12.94 

11.47 

6.51 

19.67 

14.06 

Unforeseen  circumstances  affected  the  tests  made  with  a  large  num- 
ber of  varieties  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  thought  that  the  results 
might  be  misleading  rather  than  helpful,  and  they  are  not  reported.  In 
no  other  case  did  the  experiments  in  the  year  1893  materially  modify 
the  results  obtained  in  former  years,  and  the  general  suggested  conclu- 
sions concerning  oat  culture  may  be  restated  in  the  following  extract 
from  bulletin  No.  23,  the  only  change  being  in  the  number  of  years  the 
experiments  have  continued: 

"  The  results  of  all  the  experiments  with  oats  tried  at  this  Station 
for  the  last  six  years  suggest  that  on  the  fertile  soil  of  central  eastern 
Illinois,  with  simple  methods,  we  may  expect  in  a  series  of  years  an 
average  yield  an  acre  of  a  little  over  50  bushels  of  grain  and  about  one 
and  one-half  tons  of  straw,  the  oats  weighing  rather  less  than  more  than 
the  standard  weight  of  32  Ib.  a  bushel;  that  it  is  not  advisable  to  plow 
the  land  in  the  spring  if  the  crop  follows  corn,  the  use  of  the  disk  har 


1894-]  FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,    1893.  383 

row  giving  better  results;  that  the  seed  should  be  sown  near  the  last  of 
March  or  first  of  April;  that  if  sown  broadcast  it  is  better  to  sow  from 
two  and  one-half  to  three  and  one-half  bushels  per  acre,  covering  the 
seed  not  more  than  'one  or  two  inches  deep;  that  there  is  no  one  variety 
greatly  superior  to  all  others,  so  that  it  is  not  wise  to  put  full  credence 
in  the  claims  often  made  for  new  varieties;  that  some  varieties  are,  how- 
ever, distinctly  better  than  some  others;  that  neither  color  nor  plump- 
ness of  kernels,  weight  per  bushel,  nor  the  form  of  the  head  certainly 
determines  value;  but  that,  generally,  varieties  with  long,  slender,  com- 
paratively light  kernels  have  the  smallest  percentage  of  husk  and,  prob- 
ably, the  greatest  feeding  value;  that  early  maturing  varieties  are  to  be 
preferred  to  those  ripening  later;  that  it  is  desirable  to  harvest  the  crop 
before  it  has  fully  ripened ;  and  that  binding  and  shocking  the  sheaves 
at  once  is  an  advantage  rather  than  a  disadvantage,  if  the  grain  is  in  fit 
condition  for  cutting." 

Experiment  No.  12.      Oats,  Quantity  of  Seed  per  Acre. 

The  land  used  for  this  experiment  was  in  corn  in  1892,  and  the 
stalks  had  been  removed.  April  3,  1893,  a  series  of  seven  plats,  each 
one-fortieth  of  an  acre,  was  sown  broadcast  with  Pringle's  progress 
oats,  at  the  varying  rates  of  i,  1.5,  2,  2.5,  3,  3.5,  and  4  bu.  (32  Ib. )  per 
acre.  The  plats  were  disked  twice  with  a  light  two-horse  disk  before 
sowing,  and  twice  after,  then  harrowed  once  lightly,  seeded  with  clover 
and  timothy  and  again  harrowed. 

Slightly  the  largest  yield  of  grain  was  from  sowing  2^  bu.  Con- 
trary to  the  usual  results,  the  yield  from  sowing  one  bu.  was  nearly  as 
large.  The  largest  yield  of  straw  was  from  sowing  3  bu.,  but  with  lit- 
tle variation  from  sowing  2^,  3,  or  31^  bu.  The  yield  of  straw  was 
the  largest  from  sowing  2^  bu. 

The  average  of  the  results  from  six  years'  trials  show  largest  yield 
from  sowing  2^  bu.,  with  nearly  as  large  from  sowing  3  bu.,  and  no 
important  difference  in  yield  whether  2^,  3,  3}^  or  4  bu.  were  sown. 
The  average  yield  of  straw  was  slightly  largest  from  sowing  3  bu.  per 
acre.  The  yields  of  both  grain  and  straw  varied  greatly  in  the  different 
years,  but  the  average  is  satisfactory — over  50  bushels  of  grain  and  not 
far  from  3,000  Ib.  straw  per  acre. 

Experiment  No.  14.      Oats,  Time  of  Sowing. 

The  land  used  for  this  experiment  was  in  corn  in  1892,  and  the 
stalks  were  removed. 

March  3ist,  the  land  was  disked  and  staked  out  in  12  plats,  each 
one-twentieth  of  an  acre  in  area.  Plats  i  to  6,  inclusive,  were  sown 
each  with  four  pounds,  and  the  remaining  six  each  with  five  pounds  of 
oats.  The  oats,  Pringle's  progress,  were  sown  broadcast  by  hand  and 
covered  by  disking.  The  plats  were  then  harrowed,  sown  with  timothy 


384  BULLETIN  xo.  31.  \^March, 

YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  DIFFERENT  RATES  OF  SEEDING,   1893. 


Yield  p 

sr  acre. 

Seed 

Stubs 

Wt    100 

Per  cent 

Plat 

No. 

per  acre, 
bu. 

per 
sq.   ft. 

berries, 
grams. 

kernel 
in  berries. 

Pounds 
per  bu. 

Straw, 

Grain, 

Ib. 

bu. 

i 

i 

19 

2.17 

73  2 

36.5 

2330 

62.2 

2 

i-5 

21 

1.79 

76 

38 

2190 

52.8 

3 

2 

41 

2.25 

70.4 

38.25 

2110 

54-1 

4 

2-5 

33 

2.10 

74-3 

34 

2630 

62.8 

5 

3 

40 

2.O7 

77 

36 

2580 

55-6 

6 

3.5 

47 

2.13 

67 

37 

2080 

50 

7 

4 

47 

2 

72.2 

33-75 

2395 

55-8 

YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  DIFFERENT  RATES  OF  SEEDING,   1888  to  1893. 


*  Seed 
per  acre, 
bu. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

1891. 

1892. 

1893. 

Average. 

Straw  per  acre,  pounds. 

i 
i-5 

2 

2-5 

3 
3-5 
4 

3820 
4400 
4540 
4860 
5220 
4400 
4260 

4600 
3800 
4000 
3000 
4400 
4100 
3200 

2820 
1740 
1800 
2460 
1960 

2OOO 
2O2O 

1275 
1970 
2748 
2638 
2790 
3060 
3110 

1742 
1980 
1832 
1935 

2IOO 
1952 
2377 

2330 
2190 

2110 
2630 
2580 
2080 
2395 

2764 
2680 
2838 
2920 
3192 
2932 
2894 

Grain  per  acre,  bushels. 

i 
'i-5 

2 
2-5 

3 
3-5 
4 

52.5 
59-4 
61.4 
63.8 
61  .9 
62.5 
60.6 

36.3 
33-1 
42-5 
43-8 
47.2 
52-1 
50.6 

25.3 
21.6 

J7-5 
29.1 

27-5 
24.7 
21.9 

36.7 
56.9 
74.8 
72.6 
76.6 
79-7 
76.3 

4°.5 

43-5 
43-3 
44-5 
44-3 
42.4 
43-2 

62.2 

52.8 

54-1 
62.8 
55-6 
50 

55-8 

42.2 

44-5 
48.9 
52.8- 
52.2- 
51.9 
51-4 

Pounds  per  bushel. 

i 
i-5 

2 

2-5 

3 
3-5 
4 

25-5 
25 
28 
28 
29 
29-5 
29-5 

26 
26.5 
24 
29 
29 
28 
29 

28.5 
3i 
31-5 
32 
32.5 
32 
32 

25.5 
27-5 
28 
28 
28 
28.7 
29.2 

36.5 
38 
38.25 
34 
36 
37 
33-75  ; 

28.4 
29.6 
30 
30.2 
30.9 
3i 
30.7 



lS94-] 


FIELD   EXPERIMENTS   WITH  OATS,    1893. 


385 


and  clover,  and  again  harrowed.  The  following  table  gives  the  dates  of 
sowing  and  ripening,  yield  of  both  straw  and  grain,  pounds  per  bushel, 
and  per  cent  of  kernel  in  berries  for  each  plat,  also  the  average  for  each 
sown  at  the  same  dater  A  mistake  made  in  harvesting  prevents  giving 
the  separate  yields  of  plats  2  and  3. 

In  general,  the  yield  of  both  straw  and  grain,  pounds  per  bushel 
and  per  cent  of  kernel  decrease  with  the  lateness  of  sowing. 

The  second  table,  giving  the  average  for  five  years,  shows  the 
largest  yields  to  be  from  the  earlier  sowings,  with  quite  a  uniform  de- 
crease in  yield  as  the  season  advances. 

YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  SOWING  AT  DIFFERENT  TIMES,  1893. 


Yield 

Yield 

Average. 

s 

per  acre. 

CD" 

per  acre. 

c? 

Yield 

CD 

o 

gfl 

V 

p* 

B   0 

S? 

cr 

per  acre. 

r 

B-? 

5' 

X 

0 

0) 

3 

O 
5' 

cr 
c 

P'l 

p 

CO 
3 

a' 

1 

cr 

c 

R 

f    o 

0) 

P 

O 

3. 

cr 

T» 

cr 

II 

cr 

P 

SL 

D* 

cr 
e 

CD 

cr 

cr 

c 

'1 

Mar.  31 

18 

I 

2040 

51-3 

35 

73 

7 

2235 

58.9 

34 

75 

21.37 

55-i|34-5 

74 

Apr.      8 
"     17 

19 

20 

3! 

1930 

49-7 

34 

72 

8 
9 

2225 
1680 

56.7 
38.8 

35 
33 

73 
66 

2077 
1805 

53-2 

44.2 

34-5 
33-5 

72-5 
69 

May      3 

26 

4 

2155 

46.4 

28.5 

70 

10 

1490 

27.2 

30 

72 

1822 

36.829.3 

71 

3 

26 

5 

1555 

27.7 

30 

69 

ii 

1410 

24.7 

30 

64 

1482 

26.2 

30 

66.5 

"     10 

28 

6 

1280 

15 

27 

66 

12 

1355 

15-2 

27 

57 

1317 

i5-i 

27 

6!.  5 

YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  SOWING  AT  DIFFERENT  TIMES,   1888 — 1893. 


I 

CD 
O 

? 

^ 

5' 

3TQ 

1888 

1889 

1890 

1892 

1893 

Average. 

Yield 
per  acre. 

r 
P* 

* 

n 

D* 

d 

Yield 
per  acre. 

f 

i 

cr 

£ 

Yield 
per  acre. 

£ 

•a 

"-« 
cr 
a 

Yield 
per  acre. 

r1 

cr 

1 

cr 
a 

Yield 
per  acre. 

r 
p- 

'O 
CD 
>-t 

U" 

c 

Yi 
per; 

C/3 

| 

cr 

sld 

icre. 

i  

o 

g. 

a 

cr 

c 

03 

P 
^ 

& 

O 

2. 
3' 

o* 
a 

C/) 

5 

cr 

O 
3 
_5' 

cr 
c 

03 

I 

i? 

O 
•t 
P 

_5' 

cr 
c 

W 
>-t 
P 

jS? 

o* 

O 
P 
5' 

cr 

c 

O) 
S 

o^ 

O 

V 

a' 

"r 

Mar.  14 

"       22 

Mar. 
28-31 
Apr. 
4-8 
Apr. 
11-17 
Apr. 
18-21 
Apr. 
25-28 
May 

3-4 
May   10 

28.5 
28 

28.5 
26.5 
25 

22 
21 

3600 
4600 

5200 
4000 
4000 
4100 
3700 

48.1 
41-5 

4i  3 
36.3 
33-1 
25 
9-4 

31-8 
3i 
27 

27-3 
26.8 
26.8 

3MO 
3390 
2890 
3020 
2740 
2540 

44.1 
45-i 
36.5 
30 

28.1 
19-6 

299 
30.5 

28.8 
28 
24.7 

20.9 

24.2 

3870 
3124 
3H3 
3057 
3303 
3186 
1489 

42.8 
46.8 
47 
42.3 
35  9 
30.2 

27-7 

28 
27-5 
26.5 

~5 
15 
19 

1767 
1520 
1442 
1332 
1482 
1325 

46 
424 
47-7 
41-7 

42.4 

23-9 

346 
34-5 

334 

2137 
2077 
1805 

55.1 

53-^ 
44.2 

5080 
5O20 
5040 
502O 

66.3 

56-5 
48.8 

49-4 

29.6 
27 

1652 
1317 

3i  5 
15  i 

386 


BULLETIN  NO.  3! 


[  March^ 


Experiment  No.  75.      Oats,  Depth   of  Sowing. 

April  6,  1893,  sixty  selected  kernels  were  planted  in  each  of  twelve 
rows  10  ft.  long.  Rows  i  and  2  were  covered  one  inch  deep,  and  each 
succeeding  two  rows  one  inch  deeper,  rows  n  and  12  being  covered  six 
inches  deep.  There  was  an  extra  row  on  either  side.  The  table  gives 
the  number  of  plants  started,  number  of  panicles  harvested,  weight  of 
grain,  and  weight  of  ico  kernels  for  each  row.  In  general  there  is  a 
decrease  from  the  shallowest  to  the  deepest  planting. 

YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  SOWING  AT  DIFFERENT  DEPTHS,    1893. 


Depth  sow- 
ing, inches. 

Row  No. 

No.    panicles 
harvested. 

Wt.  straw, 
ounces. 

Wt.  grain, 
ounces. 

Wt.  100 
kernels,  grams. 

i 

i 

i?5 

13-25 

7-75 

2.14 

i 

2 

196 

15-75 

8.5 

2.27 

2 

3 

165 

13-5 

8 

2.3 

2 

4 

133 

10 

5-75 

2.28 

3 

5 

no 

8.5 

4-5 

2.17 

3 

6 

133 

10.5 

5-5 

2.32 

4 

7 

142 

ii 

6 

2.25 

4 

8 

154 

ii.  5 

6 

2.07 

5 

9 

9i 

9-25 

4 

2.2 

5 

10 

56 

5 

2.25 

2.04 

6 

ii 

13 

•75 

•  *5 

I  .80 

6 

12 

21 

1-5 

•75  \ 

•   Uy 

YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  SOWING  AT  DIFFERENT  DEPTHS,  1888  to  1893. 


Depth  of  sowing, 
inches. 

1888 

1889 

1890 

1891 

1892 

1893 

Average. 

*§  2 
2.o 
o__  ' 

•s.1 

CD  J13 

£5. 

CD 

o]  • 

to    ••*> 

ji  sr 

CD 

o'  " 

a  2. 

to    •-•» 

-cf 

<isr 

O-  0". 

1.0 

o  ' 

fs, 

£L5T 

^ 

o'  • 

fa. 

Relative 
yield. 

o'  • 

cTo 

to    »-»> 

££r 

CD 

13 

ll 

o^  ' 

*£ 

CD    ^ 

S  ?. 

CD 

i 

2 

3 

4 
5 
6 

566 

495 
465 
469 
481 
445 

90 
80 
IOO 

95 
80 

55 

407 
424 

434 
439 

81 

69 
76 

IOO 

362 
312 

307 

269 

75 

IOO 

76 
65 
65 

29 

12 

205 

192 

1  88 

136 

69 

IOO 

49 

55 

18 

179.5 

161 
146.5 
I7L5 

177.5 
155-5 

IOO 

94 

85 
77 
51 
63 

185.5 
149 

121.  5 

I48 

73-5 
17 

IOO 

85 

62 

74 
38 
6 

318 

313 

278 
281 

210 

157 

90 
84 

73 

78 

45 
3i 

The  foregoing  table  giving  results  for  each  of  six  years  shows  the 
average  relative  yield  to  be  in  favor  of  covering  one  inch  deep,  with  a 
decrease  in  yield  for  each  succeeding  inch,  excepting  four  inches  deep. 

Experiment   128.      Oats,    Time  and   Manner  of  Harvesting.     Effect 
upon    J'ield  and  Chemical  Composition. 

[The  first  paragraph  and  table  following  are  from  Bulletin  No.  23.] 

"For  each  of  the  years  1891  and  1892,  trials  were  made  to  deter- 
mine the  effect  of  time  and  manner  of  harvesting  oats.  In  the  table  is 
given  for  each  year  the  average  results  from  six  plats  harvested  early, 


1894.] 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS   WITH  CORN,    1893. 


387 


six  when  medium  ripe,  six  when  fully  ripe,  and  of  six  plats  which  were 
bound  and  shocked  soon  after  cutting,  six  cut  and  allowed  to  dry  thor- 
oughly in  the  swath  before  being  bound,  and  of  six  where  the  heads 
were  cut  off,  leaving  most  of  the  stalk  standing.  There  are  no  very 
striking  differences  shown,  except  in  the  case  of  the  plats  cut  late  in 
1892.  This  result  was  in  part  due  to  the  fact  that  some  of  these  plats 
were  not  so  favorably  situated  as  some  of  the  others  in  the  experiment. 
In  each  year  the  best  results  were  obtained  where  the  sheaves  were 
bound  and  shocked  soon  after  cutting.  The  explanation  is  not  readily 
given,  but  the  facts  seem  to  show  that  this  ordinary  practice  is  a  good 
one.  Striking  differences  in  the  yield  in  the  two  years  are  shown,  and 
equally  striking  differences  in  the  weight  per  bushel.  The  variety  was 
not  the  same.  In  1891,  welcome  oats  were  used;  in  1892,  Pringle's 
progress." 

EFFECT  OF  TIME  AND  MANNER  OF  HARVESTING  OATS  AT  DATES  AND  UNDER 
CONDITIONS  GIVEN. 


Date. 

Stage  of  Ripeness. 

Yield  per 
acre. 

1? 

rt 

?£• 
fa 

o-?J 

3  3  " 

8'"§ 

.«"  5'  2. 

Straw, 
Ib. 

Grain, 
bu. 

1891, 
July  6. 

"     ii. 

"     17. 

Stems  green,  ^    leaves  green,  kernels 
mostly  in  milk 

2887 
2619 
2179 

3180 
3i79 
1307 

64.4 
63-9 
59-4 

63.1 
56.5 
65.4 

34 
34-7 
34-5 

34 
34-7 
34-5 

2.31 
2-43 
2.46 

2.46 
2.38 
2-39 

69.8 

71-3 
71.2 

70.8 
71.7 
69.8 

Kernels  mostly  in  dough,  some  hard.  . 
Fully  ripe  

Bound  and  shocked  in  ordinary  man- 
ner   

Loose  till  dry,  then  bound  and  shock'd 
Heads  removed  

1892. 
July  16. 

"       22. 
30. 

Stems  green,  %  leaves  green,  kernels 
mostly  in  dough,   some  in  milk  
Oats  mostly  hard,  some  in  dough  
Fully    ripe  

1656 
1740 
1284 

1892 
1770 

1020 

45-i 
45-9 
33 

45-5 
42.8 
35-6 

26.25 
25.7 

25-4 

26.5 
25-9 
25-9 

2.31 

2.22 
2.25 

2.27 
2.27 
2.22 

67.58 
66.7 
66 

67.6 
66 
66.6 

Bound  and  shocked    in  ordinary  man- 
ner   

Loose  till  dry,  then  bound  and  shock'd 
Heads  removed  



EFFECT  UPON  CHEMICAL  COMPOSITION. 

In  addition  to  the  above  a  chemical  analysis  was  made  of  the  grain 
of  each  of  the  plats  for  each  year,  also  an  analysis  of  the  straw  for  each 
for  1892,  and  an  analysis  of  the  stubble  from  the  plats  that  were 
headed.  Duplicate  analyses  were  made  for  each  plat  and  the  average 
taken.  The  tables  give  the  average  composition  of  six  plats  cut  early, 
six  plats  cut  medium  ripe,  six  plats  cut  fully  ripe,  and  six  plats  which 
were  bound  and  shocked  soon  after  cutting,  six  cut  and  allowed  to  dry 
in  the  swath  before  binding  and  shocking,  and  six  having  the  heads 


388 


BULLETIN   NO.  3! 


i894. 


removed  leaving  most  of  the  straw  standing;  also  the  average  of  three 
plats  of  stubble.  For  1891,  there  seems  to  be  no  difference  in  compo- 
sition worthy  of  mention,  due  either  to  time  or  manner  of  harvesting. 
In  1892,  the  protein  and  fat  are  slightly  higher  for  the  early  curing  and 
for  those  bound  and  shocked.  As  to  the  straw,  it  also  shows  a  higher 
per  cent  of  protein  and  fat  for  the  earlier  cutting  than  for  either  the 
medium  or  late.  As  to  manner  of  harvesting,  the  small  quantity  of 
straw  from  the  plats  that  were  headed  was  slightly  better,  while  the 
stubble  from  the  same  plats  was  slightly  poorer  in  protein  than  was  the 
straw  from  the  plats  harvested  by  other  methods. 

There  is  quite  a  difference  in  the  composition  of  the  grain  for  the  two 
years.  That  for  1891  has  considerably  the  higher  per  cent  of  fat  and 
protein,  and  consequently  a  higher  feeding  value.  This  better  compo- 
sition of  the  oats  of  1891  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  more 
favorable  season  for  oats,  or  that  thev  were  of  a  different  variety.  It 
suggests  that  it  might  be  profitable  to  study  more  carefully  the  compo- 
sition of  different  varieties  as  grown  under  different  conditions. 

ANALYSES    OF    GRAIN,    STRAW,    AND    STUBBLE   OF    OATS    HARVESTED    AT   DIFFERENT 

STAGES  OF  RIPENING,   1891-2. 

Analyses  of  Grain,   i8gi. 


Ash. 

Pro- 
tein. 

Fiber. 

Nitro- 
gen-free 
extract. 

Ether, 
extract. 

July    6.     Stems  green,  y,  leaves  green,  kernels 
mostly  in  milk  

3  .40 

MQ4 

12  .  52 

162.05 

6  20 

July  ii.     Kernels  mostly  in  dough;  some  hard 
July  17      Fully  ripe 

3-41 
3  36 

15.01 

I  5    25 

11-95 

12    06 

63.73 
63  4.0 

5-90 

5Q3 

Bound  and  shocked  in  ordinary  manner.  . 
Loose  till  dry,  then  bound  and  shocked.  . 
Heads  removed  

3-45 
3-35 
3-39 

15 
15.15 
15.05 

12.54 

n-93 
12.05 

63 
63-71 
63-38 

6.03 

5-86 
6.13 

Analyses  of  Grain,   1892. 


July  16.     Stems  green,    */£  leaves  green,   ker- 
nels mostly  in  dough;  some  in  milk. 
July  22.     Oats  mostly  hard,  some  in  dough.  . 
July  30      Fully  ripe 

3-51 
3-75 
l  81 

13.30 
13.22 

12  56 

12.79 
12.58 
I  ^  OQ 

65.73 

66.37 
66 

4.66 

4.08 

454 

Bound  and  shocked  in  ordinary  manner.. 
Loose  till  dry,  then  bound  and  shocked.  . 
Heads  removed.        .              ... 

3-73 
3.64 
3  69 

13.24 
12.  80 
13  O5 

12.  6O 
13.05 
12  8l 

66.38 
65.86 
65  81 

4-05 
4-65 
4    ^8 

Analyses  of  Straw,   1892. 


July  16.     Stems  green,    %   leaves  green,   ker- 
nels mostly  in  dough,  some  in  milk. 
July  22.     Oats  mostly  hard,  some  in  dough.  .  . 
July  30      Fully  ripe 

8-93 
8.66 
7  7Q 

4-05 
3-69 

3  CH 

42.M 

44-75 

45  58 

4Z.80 
40.85 

4O  QQ 

2.07 
2.04 

I  71 

Bound  and  shocked  in  ordinary  manner.  . 
Loose  till  dry,  then  bound  and  shocked.  . 
Heads  removed 

8-93 
8.27 
8  17 

3-77 
3.66 

4  22 

44.46 
44-31 

A?  CQ 

40.79 
41.81 

42  O2 

2.05 
1.94 
i  8q 

Analysis  of  stubble,  i8g2,  av.  j  plats  

8-77 

3.58 

45-64 

39.86 

2.15 

G.  E.  MORROW,  A.  M.,  Agriculturist. 

F.  D.  GARDNER  B.  S.,  Assistant  Agriculturist. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAN* 


